LONDON.-Nike announces the launch of a brand new annual programme to support and reward street-inspired artists in Europe. Devised by AKQA, 1/1 (one of one) invites artists to submit work to an online gallery that will be judged by Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio and challenges the continent’s top talent to create the ultimate limited edition to the brief, ‘ART OF FOOTBALL’.

The programme is open to anyone, from filmmakers and photographers to graf artists and illustrators - students or upcoming pros. Entrants will compete for a life-changing accolade: to exhibit in a unique ART OF FOOTBALL show alongside 11 of the world’s most respected creative talents. The show takes place in Basel, Switzerland, and coincides with the world’s leading contemporary art fair, Art Basel and the start of the European Football Championships 2008.

Finally, one winner will be chosen to have their work immortalised on a limited edition series of Nike Dunks, the legendary shoes, set to tour the sneaker-temples of Europe. The best work from the whole programme will also feature in a hardcover 1/1 design book distributed through premium design outlets.

For their chance to win, artists need only submit their best current work to the 1/1 website at www.nike1-1.com, together with a write-up of their idea in response to the ART OF FOOTBALL brief. The judging process will be led by SHOWstudio.com, Nick Knight’s fashion and art broadcasting company.

From the hundreds of artists expected to submit, only the best will be invited into the second round to create their ART OF FOOTBALL piece. Of these, 11 will make it to Basel to join the 1/1 Associates in Nike’s revolutionary ART OF FOOTBALL show, where the final winner will be announced. The 1/1 Associate artists include genre-defining names, such as: Solve Sundsbo, Joel Tettamanti, Claudio Sinatti and Dominic Wilcox.

The 1/1 programme officially launches on 15 April, to coincide with the first night of the Milan Furniture fair.

Commenting on the campaign, AKQA Executive Creative Director, Daniel Bonner, said:“It’s not enough for brands simply to talk the talk; they have to walk the walk, offering new kinds of experiences that genuinely enrich, entertain and engage people. 1/1 bears all the hallmarks of a successful campaign for the digital age: it uses technology in new and inventive ways, it provides the audience with an opportunity to be part of something genuinely unique and therefore creating a huge incentive to participate, it inspires consumers to define the outcome and – most importantly – it relies on a simple insight: European non-mainstream art is currently under-represented and under-rewarded. We’re looking forward to seeing that situation change.”

Commenting on this year’s brief, 1/1 curator Nick Knight said, “Both football and the arts cut across boundaries. Whether you're from any part of the world, class or part of society, you can appreciate a football match: that's what I like about it. It's the same with the arts: a great painting will cut across boundaries. And that global reach is what's really exciting about the '1/1: Art of Football' project.

We're looking for participants who are completely committed to football but also want to express it in a piece of artwork. It could be a performance, a sculpture, a still - whatever they want. Hopefully that desire to communicate will be the driving force behind the SHOWstudio/NIKE collaboration.”