Local creative gurus honoured in New York

Toufic Beyhum, creative director at Advantage Y&R, and photographer Shawn van Eeden of CreativeLab recently clinched a coveted award for their African Trash Masks print campaign at the Lucie Awards in New York.

The awards is an annual event which honours achievements in photography.

African Trash Masks for Greenpeace Africa was conceptualised and designed by Advantage Y&R and photographed by Shawn van Eeden. The masks themselves were created by talented Namibian artists Petrus Shiimi and Saima Iita.

The campaign featured African Masks made from recycled trash and worn by young children to represent the continent’s future should trash usage continue unchecked. It was aligned with Greenpeace as part of their on-going efforts to raise awareness for pollution and instigate positive change in this regard.

“We’re ecstatic with this win,” said Beyhum. “It’s incredible that a small agency from Windhoek can win a prestigious award in the Big Apple. Anything is possible.”

The African Trash Masks campaign was awarded a Silver Loerie in August and shortlisted in Cannes, but this Lucie nomination and subsequent award came out of the blue, he said.

“If you look at the list of previous winners, we can really be proud of this achievement, as we are in excellent company.”