A Cypriot art project called immigrants secured top honours among a competition among 22,000 entries in 54 counties for a major prize offered by the London-based Saatchi gallery.

The project depicting figures of drowning adults and children, which have been made of expanding foam, and arranged on an old fishing boat, received first prize in the competition titled “The Saatchi Gallery/ Deutsche Bank Art Prize for Schools 2016”.

The project was created by students of Apostolos Loucas district lyceum in Kolossi, under the supervision of their art teacher, painter Popi Nicolaou, for the 5th Cypriot Arts Competition among schools.

The project received the awards “Overall Winner” and 12.000 pounds and the “Secondary Category Winner”, award with a prize of 6,000 pounds.

Speaking to CNA, Nicolaou expressed joy over the award noting that the decision was unanimous.

The project will exhibited in the context of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of Europe.

Cyprus Ministry of Education welcomed the award and congratulated the students.

“The project created by our students reflects the problems facing our society today which proves that our students are sensitive towards the refugee drama and the pain of our fellow people,” Minister of Education Costas Kadis said in a press release.