Art has a strange little habit of getting past our defenses. Science explains. Advocacy mobilizes. But art walks straight into the room, sits down, and says: “Look again.”
In Brief
The 2026 World Vitiligo Day International Art Competition, held under the theme From Stigma to Strength, brought together artists from around the world working across traditional media, AI-assisted digital creation, and children’s literature.
After review by an international panel of judges and public voting on the World Vitiligo Day website, the winners are:
- Stephen Pius — Timeless Elegance, Traditional Mediums Winner
- Dr. Wina Ermawati — The Butterfly Between Us, AI-Driven Creations Winner
- Dr. Noufal Raboobee — The Patches That Made Me Shine, Children’s Book Award
Every year on World Vitiligo Day, we celebrate progress in science, education, and advocacy. This year, something else took center stage.
Art.
A single portrait can challenge prejudice. A photograph can carry years of courage. A children’s book can shape how a generation sees difference long before stigma gets comfortable and puts its shoes on.
The 2026 World Vitiligo Day International Art Competition brought together remarkable submissions from around the world. At the same time, sister organizations held powerful parallel exhibitions and contests that brought visibility, creativity, and pride into public spaces.
This has been a true global artistic awakening.
Our International Art Competition Winners
Our international panel of judges first selected a shortlist of outstanding entries based on artistic merit, originality, relevance to the theme, and overall impact. The global community then cast their votes through the World Vitiligo Day website to determine this year’s winners.
Traditional Mediums Winner
Stephen Pius
Timeless Elegance
Inspired by Briyaf’s confidence and authenticity, this charcoal-and-acrylic portrait on Strathmore paper celebrates vitiligo as a powerful expression of identity.
Created over nearly a year, the work includes roses and butterflies as symbols of resilience, transformation, growth, and hope.
“Timeless Elegance is a tribute to those living with vitiligo… a reminder that our differences are not imperfections, but part of the stories that make us unique.”
Prize: Professional artist’s set, sponsored by a private donor.
AI-Driven Creations Winner
Dr. Wina Ermawati
The Butterfly Between Us
Dr. Ermawati used AI-assisted digital creation to connect diverse faces and skin tones through vitiligo patterns that together form a butterfly.
The butterfly symbolizes resilience, hope, transformation, and the idea that strength is not found despite our differences, but because of them.
“I hope to encourage viewers to look beyond visible differences and recognize our shared humanity.”
Prize: Digital drawing tablet, sponsored by a private donor.
Children’s Book Award
Dr. Noufal Raboobee, South Africa
The Patches That Made Me Shine
This illustrated book prototype follows five school-age children from different countries as they explain vitiligo to their peers with confidence and kindness.
Presented in five languages — English, Zulu, Hindi, Punjabi, and Korean — the book shows how early education can reduce stigma before it has a chance to settle in.
Prize: Special Vitiligo Library Grant Award to support final production and sample distribution through school libraries.
A Note on the Finalists
We also celebrate the outstanding shortlisted finalists whose works made this competition unforgettable. Their entries showed the full emotional range of vitiligo art: identity, family, visibility, vulnerability, memory, medicine, and pride.
Finalists in Traditional category:
- Yulia Potatueva – Unmade Painting (Photography)
- Phelix Owiny – Held in Solidarity (Photography, in collaboration with Spartan Photography Kenya)
- Aman Singh Gulati – Between Skin and Self (Mixed-media installation)
- Anna Lyakhovskaya – Beauty is Sorrow (Pastel on paper)
Finalists in AI-driven category:
- Gabriela Reginata – The Hands That Understand
- Seramid Indonesia – Beyond Reflection
- Juili Pund – Vitiligo Pride: A Heritage Story
- Goran Miladich – From Stigma to Strength: Vitiligo Fun
A Global Artistic Movement
This year’s creative wave extended far beyond our main competition.
- The Mexican Vitiligo Foundation, Proyecto Vitiligo, presented a powerful photography exhibition at Jamaica Station in the Mexico City Metro, placing vitiligo stories in front of thousands of daily commuters for two full months.
- VIPOC and the Dutch Vitiligo Team transformed Amsterdam Central Railway Station with striking photo and art installations, including full-size human silhouettes marked with vitiligo patterns across the station floor, under the hashtag #IkBenMeerDanMijnVitiligo — “I Am More Than My Vitiligo.”
- The Congolese Vitiligo Association held its own inspiring art contest, with first prize awarded to Ushindi Jedidja Vicmond.
From metro stations in Mexico City to railway halls in Amsterdam and creative spaces in Congo, vitiligo stories are being told boldly, publicly, and beautifully.
Why This Matters
For too long, vitiligo was treated as something to hide, correct, explain, or politely ignore.
Art refuses that script.
It places vitiligo in public view without apology. It turns skin into story, difference into language, and visibility into something that feels less like exposure and more like power.
More Than an Art Competition
Looking across these works, one thing becomes clear.
Vitiligo is no longer only a medical story.
It is also a human story told through art: a story of identity, resilience, family, empathy, and pride.
Artists, physicians, photographers, educators, and everyday storytellers have shown that difference does not need to be hidden, softened, or explained away. It can be seen. It can be understood. It can even become the thing that connects us.
To every winner, finalist, participant, and partner organization — thank you.
You did more than create art. You helped change how the world sees vitiligo.
Welcome to the exhibition.
📚 Recommended Reading
Vitiligo — A Global Creative Uprising
A closer look at how art, fashion, film, and public storytelling are reshaping the global vitiligo conversation.
World Vitiligo Day 2026 – A Historic Return to the Movement's Spiritual Birthplace
Why Chandigarh matters, and why the 2026 World Vitiligo Day conference marks a meaningful return to one of the movement’s defining places.
History Of The World Vitiligo Day
The full story of how World Vitiligo Day grew from a simple idea into a global awareness movement.
🎙 Listen to Deep Dive in Vitiligo
Prefer listening while walking, driving, cooking, or pretending to “quickly check email” for 47 minutes? These episodes continue the story.
The Jackson-Thomas-Harlow Effect On Vitiligo (Ep. 60)
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Vitiligo — A Global Creative Uprising (Ep. 52)
A deeper audio journey into the creative wave around vitiligo, from art and books to fashion, film, and cultural representation.
How World Vitiligo Day Reached 60+ Million People in 24 Hours (Ep. 38)
The behind-the-scenes story of how a patient-driven awareness campaign reached millions in a single day.