Cartoon Movement

New Cartoonist: Asier Sanz

We are proud to welcome cartoonist/collage artist Asier Sanz from Spain to Cartoon Movement. His work appears in various newspapers and magazines and several of his images have gone viral.

Cartoon Movement at THIMUN

Between January 27 and February 1, we had the pleasure of being part of THIMUN (The Hague International Model United Nations). 3,500 secondary school students from all over the world gathered in the World Forum in The Hague to think and talk about the world’s problems.

Before the conference THIMUN and Cartoon Movement challenged the students to make an editorial cartoon. The best of these cartoons were part of an exhibition that was on display during THIMUN along with 12 cartoons by professional Cartoon Movement cartoonists. Cartoon Movement editor Tjeerd Royaards also gave a workshop to the students explaining the power of cartoons.

The three best cartoons made by the students are displayed here:

Artist: Jasmijn Yadi

 

Artists: Eun Young Kwon  & Insiya Haji

 

Artist: Tep Khemarin Chan

Cartoon Competition: Lands of Disobedience

Political cartoonist and CM member Emanuele Del Rosso is organizing a cartoon competition, together with the Oltreconomia Festival of Trento (Italy).The competition theme is also the theme of the sixth edition of the  Oltreconomia Festival: Lands of Disobedience.

Lands – real or metaphorical – where civil disobedience takes place are everywhere. Positive and peaceful change has been achieved several times in history, and every instance of civil activism taught us something. This competition asks cartoonists to tackle the theme of civil disobedience at large, so to give the public the chance to reflect on it in a fruitful way.The contest is also sponsored by the Dutch and the Norwegian cartoonists collectives Cartoon Movement and Cartoon Home International and by the Italian Association “Strike!”.

Terms of Participation

1 - The competition is organized internationally and it is open to all amateur or professional cartoonists.

2 - The SUBJECT of the competition is "Lands of Disobedience". Under this title are topics like activism, peaceful protests, movements that oppose the status quo. Such lands can be real or imagined/metaphorical.

3 - As the competition is organized on an international scale, works without written text are most welcome. If a text is present, it must be accompanied by a caption in English.

4 - Any illustration technique is accepted. The size of the artwork should be at least A4 (29.7 cm x 21 cm), A3 (29.7 cm x 42 cm), 300 dpi, and JPG format.

5 - The works to be sent to the competition may have been published before but they should not have been awarded a prize in any competition. The award will be cancelled if the award-winning works are documented to have received a prize in another competition.

6 - It is possible to participate in the competition with maximum 3 works. Participants will not be given more than one award.

7 - Illustrations must be sent to the email: terre.contest@gmail.com

8 - The DEADLINE for the reception of the works is April 1, 2019. The illustrations submitted after this date will not be evaluated.

9 - The Oltreconomia Festival and #MyTakeOn project reserve themselves the possibility of using the received cartoons in various media and publications, newspaper and internet sites. All the participants, by sending works to the contest, acknowledge that they accept the conditions of the competition, and will not seek any future compensation in the event that the works they submit are used in the abovementioned ways.

10 - Members of the jury and members of the organizing committee cannot take part into the contest.

11 - The cartoons found appropriate by the jury might be exhibited at various events in different countries other than Italy.

12 - An exhibition will be held showing the first 30 cartoons.

For more information on the prizes and the jury, visit the competition website.

New Cartoonists: Jalal Pirmarzabad & Javad Takjoo

Two new cartoonists have joined us recently, both from Iran:

 

Javad Takjoo

Javad Takjoo lives in Lahijan, a city in the north of Iran. He has pursued a career as a professional cartoonist and painter since 200i; his cartoons have appeared in various national newspapers in Iran.

 

Jalal Pirmarzabad

Jalal Pirmarzabad is a cartoonists from Tabriz. His work has won numerous international awards.

 

Trump's Wall

A slideshow of cartoons about Trump and his dream of building a wall. Get your own cartoon slideshow on any topic with the purchase of 4 cartoons (or more) in the Cartoon Movement Shop.

Happy New Year - in Cartoons

Our cartoonists which everyone a happy 2019! Get your own cartoon slideshow on any topic with the purchase of 4 cartoons (or more) in the Cartoon Movement Shop.

New Cartoonists

What better way to start the year than by introducing new cartoonists? Four talented cartoonists have recently joined our community, three from Iran and one from Turkey.

Mahmood Nazari - Iran

Mahmood Nazari is a cartoonist from Hamedan, a city in the west of Iran. He has won more than 100 national and international awards for his work.

 

Kürşat Zaman - Turkey

Kürşat Zaman from Antalya in Turkey is a designer and cartoonist. He has won multiple awards for his cartoons.

 

Yousef Alimohammadi - Iran

Yousef Alimohammadi from Kamyaran in Iran has been working as a cartoonist and caricaturist since 2012. He has won multiple awards for his work.

 

Salad Rafeei - Iran

Salad Rafeei hails from Ahwaz in Iran. He has been working as a cartoonist and designer since 2000, winning many international awards.

The Best Cartoons of 2018

In 2018, we received a total of 8,517 in our newsroom. 209 cartoons were published on our homepage. It has become somewhat of a tradition to make a list of our 10 favorite cartoons of the year (see the 2017 edition here, the 2016 edition here).

It's been a good year for Cartoon Movement, but then again, it's always a good year for cartoonists when bad things happen. It's what we thrive one, sadly. Some positive notes include our very first cartoon competition - The Art of Resistance - and our first partnership with the United Nations, about human rights. We also launched the Cartoon Movement Shop, making it easier for cartoons around the world to use images from our database.

But our main mission this year was, of course, to publish great cartoons. Here's our top 10:

 

1. Shithole President

These days, you can always rely on Trump to say something cartoon-worthy. In January 2018, he referred to some countries as ‘shithole countries’. Rice Araujo from Brazil drew a portrait of what many consider to be a shithole president. Published on January 12.

 

2. Absolutely Healthy

Our second cartoon in this list, by Marian Kamensky, is also about Trump. Don't worry, t he rest of our list is Trump-free. We include this one because it earned it’s maker a ban from Facebook (because it includes a swastika). We believe that cartoons sometimes should employ powerful symbols to make a point. Published January 18.

 

3. The Network

It’s ironic that the world becomes ever more connected, more and more people are lonely. Osval from Cuba has created this clever visual, where the web connecting us is made up of walls that separate us. Published April 17.

 

4. Trust in the Media

Fake news remained an issue in 2018, although this solution proposed by Gatis Sluka probably won’t work. Published May 2.

 

5. Good Migrant, Bad Migrant

In May, illegal migrant Mamoudo Gassama climbs four stories to rescue a child. As a reward, he gets French citizenship and a job. Tjeerd Royaards shows the double standard when it comes to migrants in a cartoon that went viral. This cartoon won the award for best political cartoon in the Netherlands. Published May 30.

 

6. The Finger

Nature will prevail, as this cartoon by BIZ clearly shows. Published October 5.

 

7. Self-Destruction

Brazil elects the right-wing Bolsonro. A vivid graphic by Portuguese cartoonist Vasco Gargalo shows this as an act of suicide. Pulbished October 29.

 

8. Joke

2018 proved to be a year that continued a downward trend in human rights and freedom in general, a development very aptly illustrated with this cartoon by Elihu Duayer from Brazil. Published November 2.

 

9.Standing in Line

In November, then number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela reached 3 million. One of the reasons for leaving is the economic crisis, resulting in hours of waiting at almost empty stores. A stark cartoon in grey tones by Camdelafu. Published November 29.

 

10. Brexit, No Matter What

Among all the Brexit cartoons featuring plane crashes, shipwrecks and cliffs, this is, quite simply, one of the best visual summaries of Brexit we’ve seen. By Paolo Calleri. Published December 18.

 

We hope you like our selection of this year, and we hope to see you again next year when we'll be publishing (surprise) more cartoons!

Human Rights Day

December 10 was Human Rights Day, a day we celebrated with cartoon exhibitions in The Hague and São Paulo. This year marked the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Earlier this year, we organized a cartoon contest together with the United Nations Human Rights Office.

Out of over 500 submissions from around the globe, 30 cartoons were selected; one for each of the articles of the UDHR. These cartoons were on display at the Peace Palace (which was turned blue for Human Rights Day) in The Hague and at the Public Defender's Office in São Paulo.​

Together with Hague Talks, we invited Mexican cartoonist Guffo at the Peace Palace to tell about his work, and about the importance of cartoons in the fight for human rights. We also made this video:

But December 10 didn't mark the end of this project. Instead, it was the launch of a new contest, this time not just for cartoonists. For this new contest we're asking people around the world the question: What action do you take to support human rights?

New cartoonist: Engin Selçuk

Engin Selçuk is a cartoonist with a focus on gag cartoons. He started publishing his work in newspapers and magazines in the 1990s and has won over 40 awards since. He lives in Izmir, Turkey.