Madonna Announces David Blaine as Guest Curator for 'Art for Freedom' in December

Madonna has confirmed David Blaine as the December guest curator for Art for Freedom. As the platform's first guest curator, Blaine will collaborate with Madonna to select daily submissions to be showcased on artforfreedom.com. Art for Freedom, launched in September 2013, is a global digital initiative led by Madonna in partnership with VICE Media to bring awareness to human rights violations.

"Madonna, who has always been an incredible inspiration, invited me to be a part of Art for Freedom," said David Blaine. "It's an amazing platform to bring artists together and I look forward to seeing the brilliance this generates."

"I am excited David is signing on as guest curator. This is only the beginning of Art for Freedom bringing artists together to change the world," commented Madonna.

As part of the Art For Freedom initiative, David Blaine will work with Madonna to select one artist in December whose creative expression demonstrates a unique view of the fight for human rights. Madonna will then award a $10,000 grant to a nonprofit organization of the winning artist's choice. All projects must be focused on the values of Art For Freedom.

The latest freedom fighters chosen to receive an Art for Freedom grant are Amber Fares and the Speed Sisters - a documentary about the Middle East's first all women motor racing team. Against a backdrop of social and political upheaval, Speed Sisters presents an inspiring look into the drive to be true to oneself. The grant will go towards finishing the film. See more on the Speed Sisters project here - https://vimeo.com/79217415

Launched in September 2013, Art For Freedom is a global digital initiative, led by Madonna in partnership with VICE Media, designed to fuel free speech - to respond, address and protest persecution and discrimination around the world. It is an online public art project encouraging people to express their personal meaning of freedom and revolution, in the form of video, music, poetry, and photography. Public submissions become part of the Art For Freedom website: contributors can join the project by uploading original artwork or tagging original posts #artforfreedom. The project was launched with the film secretprojectrevolution, co-directed by Madonna and Steven Klein.

VICE Media continues to serve as co-curator of Art for Freedom, leveraging VICE's extensive global network of filmmakers, artists, writers, musicians, museums, and more, to contribute works to the project.

VICE is a global youth media company, and the industry leader in producing and distributing the best online video content in the world. Launched in 1994 as a punk magazine, VICE has expanded into a multimedia brand, including an international network of digital channels; a television & feature film production studio; a monthly magazine; a record label; and a book-publishing division. In 2013, VICE launched a news-magazine series on HBO titled 'VICE.' The Emmy nominated series is commissioned for a second season, scheduled for 2014.

VICE's digital channels include VICE.com, the brand's digital flagship; Noisey, dedicated to music discovery; The Creators Project, focusing on arts and creativity; Motherboard, covering cultural happenings in technology; THUMP, concentrating on global dance and electronic music; and Fightland, dedicated to the culture of MMA.