Confronting slogan "the Dream that makes You dream", expressed as the first part of the motto chosen by the Rector Major for his Strenna, it was a fascinating challenge for so many graphic designers from all over the world, to share their talent and their interpretation of Don Bosco's most famous dream with a worldwide audience.
Of the 32 proposals received from all continents, the ad hoc commission created under the coordination of Fr Gildasio Mendes, the General Councillor for Social Communication, unanimously selected the five proposals considered most appropriate to convey the message of the Rector Major's Strenna. Fr Ángel Fernández Artime himself then identified the winning proposal - which will then become the official poster of the Strenna 2024. Subsequently the Rector Major also indicated the posters that ranked second and third, whose authors will receive - along the author of the winning poster - the corresponding cash prize provided by the competition.
The poster of the Rector Major's Strenna for 2024 is therefore the result of the skill and inventiveness of the young Paraguayan Salmi Medina, a graphic designer and illustrator, passionate about telling stories through images, who is currently pursuing a degree in communication.
The winner Salmi Medina said: "The artistic concept that I tried to represent is basically Salesianism in a drawing; the composition finds a balance in the central characters: Don Bosco with his young people, among whom the Saint always felt fulfilled. It reminds me a lot of the 'Salesians of Don Bosco' logo, where you see Don Bosco and the Salesians, travelling to accompany the young people around the world. Similar to that, this illustration represents that very journey and a way that he dreamt of for young people... hope'.
The composition, constructed with a lively palette of colours in line with Don Bosco's call to be 'always cheerful', conceptually represents little John who spent his afternoons entertaining young people and children as a tightrope walker when, in a dream, he saw how, with love, some wolves became lambs. From that moment onwards he dedicated his life to service, but no longer just with a tightrope, but with great responsibility.
In second place was the Portuguese cartoonist Nuno Quaresma, a member of the Office of Social Communications of the "Saint Anthony" Province of Portugal.
The author, who had already created one of the two posters used for the Strenna of 2023, built his proposal on three scenes: at top left, little John dreaming of young people fighting, wolves and lambs; in the foreground, again on the right, the scene of John Bosco's dialogue with those he would come to understand were Mary Help of Christians and Jesus; at the side, a long line of festive young people: who were transformed by the Salesian education over the generations.
In third place was yet another woman, Reg Silva, an illustrator and painter from Manila, Philippines, who also has a background in motion graphics animation. She herself is linked to the Salesian circles, as a third-year Master's degree student in Pastoral Ministry at the 'Don Bosco' School of Theology in Parañaque City, and a laywoman very much involved in her parish, both at a pastoral level and in social communication ministry.
Presenting her work, Reg Silva wrote: "I wanted to portray Jesus and Mary as protective and guiding figures for the young Don Bosco. Just as Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cradles a lamb in his arms, so is little John Bosco depicted – an image portraying his future ministry as a good shepherd, committed to the education and training of the young, and always with Mary's guidance and protection. The whole image is then enclosed in a heart, the space in which, by God's sanctifying grace, our personal transformation must take place. It is only when our hearts are transformed that can we release His grace to the young and transform the 'wolves' into 'lambs'. This is the Dream that makes You dream".
From the part of all the artists and designers, sincere gratitude was expressed towards this initiative of the Congregation, which brought them face to face with a theme so rich in proposals leading to inspiring messages.
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/19320-rmg-winners-of-the-2024-strenna-poster-competition-announced#sigProIdd9ff59f0e0
