TEHRAN – The Palestine Is Not Alone International Cartoon, Caricature and Poster Contest has announced the members of its international jury.

Luiz Carlos Fernandes from Brazil, Cristina Bernazzani from Italy, Izabela Kowalska from Poland and Balai Kartun Rossem from Malaysia will judge the submissions to the international competition.

Fernandes is an illustrator, cartoonist and sculptor. He has been working for several newspapers for 34 years. He has won awards at several international exhibitions across the world.

He illustrated several children’s books and won the HQMix trophy for “Best Children’s Illustration” with the Castelo Ra Tim Bum collection in 1997. He was also honored as the best caricaturist of Brazil in 2009.

Cristina Bernazzani studied graphic design in Monza. She has been an editorial illustrator for 28 years, and her works have been published by many important Italian magazines. 

Izabela Kowalska studied at the Faculty of Painting, Graphic Arts and Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw.

She has illustrated children’s books for many years, and since 2013, she has been working in the area of satirical drawing.

Balai Kartun Rossem’s contribution to the world of cartoons is indeed great. He established the Rossem Cartoon Center (BKR), a cartoon station in Malaysia launched in 2014.

Iran’s Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization has organized the contest to show solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine.

Mohammad Khazai, Masud Ziai, Masud Shojaei-Tabatabai, Saedi Sadeqi and Abbas Nasseri are the Iranian jury members who will judge the artworks at the contest. 

Khazai is a Ph.D. graduate of graphic design of Islamic art from Birmingham University.

Ziai, Sadeqi and Nasseri are cartoonists, and Shojaei-Tabatabai is the director of the bureau’s Visual Arts Office. 

In a press conference held at the bureau in September, Art Bureau director Mohammad-Mehdi Dadman said that the contest is slated as a forerunner for the new activities of the bureau to help develop its international activities.

He added that the bureau is ready to provide artists who are active on the resistance frontline with all the knowledge and experience the bureau has accumulated over the past 40 years.

He also said that the bureau will make its best efforts to help establish an artistic movement against the Zionist regime so that Palestinian artists can better form an artistic battle.

Shojaei-Tabatabai also for his part pointed to the recent republication of cartoons insulting Prophet Muhammad (S) by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and said that they are intended to create and promote hatred, and hurt the hearts of millions of Muslims across the world.

“The issue of Palestine and its identity is one of the major topics during these days when deals between some Arab states and Israel are being framed to look normal, while people and artists from the countries whose governments are trying to normalize their relations, disagree with these relations,” he explained.

“We will be making the most use of the potentials, and are also planning to establish public movements,” he added.

Shojaei-Tabatabai next added that due to the high risk of spreading the coronavirus, the contest will be held online, and each submitted work will be uploaded on the Irancartoon website.

Photo: This combination photo shows images of the international and Iranian members of the jury at the Palestine Is Not Alone International Cartoon, Caricature and Poster Contest.

RM/MMS/YAW