A new SOAS research project, Circumambulating Objects: on Paradigms of Restitution of Southeast Asian Art (CO-OP), is seeking a logo design for its website and promotion materials. We invite submissions from any SOAS student. The chosen design will be awarded a £100 prize. 

About the Project 

The project assembles individuals across the arts, culture and heritage fields to question entrenched systems of valuation, ownership, collecting and power as these are brought into relief through restitution processes today. Exploring Southeast Asian epistemologies and needs at the intersection of these processes, we ask to whom or to where ‘art’ belongs—within state-building agendas, colonial ideations, collective memories…?   

The name CO-OP—which we envisage as the basis of the logo—signals both the cooperation and co-optation of parties active in the displacement of art throughout history. The project comprises an exploration of pathways upon which things and people continuously travel and the waypoints at which they make historical impact.  

More information about the project and inspiration for design can be found on our website (https://www.circumambulating.co.uk/about/). 

Submission File Guidelines 

• JPEG, JPG, or PNG 
• Approx. 200 x 100 px 
• Color or B/W acceptable 
• Up to two related design concept options per student 
• Open to one additional round of edits from the project team 

Deadline: June 30, 2023. Send submissions to project coordinator, Emma Efkeman at ee23@soas.ac.uk.