Competitions

Alireza Pakdel born and raised in Mashhad , Iran 1981. He has been working as freelance cartoonist and Illustrator for many important magazines and newspapers and publishers in Iran since 1994. He has also worked as an art director in weekly comic publication named Palakhmoon for two years. He has managed the Caricature and Cartoon group of Mashhad Art Center for many years.

He is an international artist who has won more than 150 international awards at domestic and foreign festivals and has also exhibited his artworks many times in group and solo exhibitions. He has also worked as a character designer in creating animation projects . Alireza Pakdel aims to create clever ideas that affects on the world ; Ideas such as the destruction of the environment by humans, the creation of peace around the world, gender discrimination, poverty and the social issues that people always face. In 2020, with the beginning of the Corona virus pandemic and general quarantine, he created the most cartoons in the field of giving hope to people around the world and appreciating the medical staff, which was considered by many important organizations and media around the world. Therefore, the most important feature of his cartoon works can be considered as sympathy with the international community in the face of social problems, which is depicted with subtle ideas. During his artistic life, Alireza Pakdel has created more than 500 Caricatures of world political, scientific and national figures with his unique style. Sharp forms and minimal graphics as well as one-eyed characters are features of his Caricatures. 

A Number of Awards:

   • Award of success from 31th Aydin Dogan cartoon festival -2014/Turkey

   • Special prize of 36th INTERNATIONAL NASREDDIN HODJA CARTOON -2016/Turkey

   • Grand Prix of 43 Salão Internacional de Humor de Piracicaba -2016 /Brazil

   • Grand prize and First prize of the World Press Cartoon-2017/Portugal

   • Special Praiz of SATYRYKON Legnica-2020/Poland

Doğan Arslan was born in 1970 in Turkey. He studied and graduated from the Graphic Design department at the Art and Design Faculty of Gazi University in 1993. He received a scholarship and went to New York to study master degree at the Pratt Institute, New York. He finished his master degree in 2000. Following year, he went to London to study his Ph.D in Art and Design at the University of East London. After receiving his doctorate degree from this university in 2007, he went back to New York to work as an Art Director/Designer in different companies. Later on, he went to Istanbul to establish a Visual Communication Design Department at the Istanbul Medeniyet University in 2013. He is currently teaching in this university as well as Işık and Yeditepe Universities in Istanbul.

His works were awarded 35 times in national and international competitions including; The first and third prize winners at Aydın Doğan Cartoon Competition, the first winner of European Cartoon Center Award, first winner of International Homer Davenport Days, second winner in Nasrettin Hoca Cartoon Competition and etc. His works were chosen at the prestigious competitions and exhibition. He interested in art, design, illustration, cartoon and modern art. His works were published in many publications and catalogues as well as exhibited in galleries and museums.

He works and lives in Kadıköy / Istanbul

He was born in 1960 in Istanbul. He studied fine arts and business administration. During his professional life, which he started in Cağaloğlu during his school years, he gained multidimensional experience in the communication sector. He also undertook various duties in the fields of dubbing artist and broadcasting at TRT. He was the head of the agency for twenty years at Tür Promotion, which he founded in 1986, which had many successes in Turkey and abroad. He founded Espas İletişim with his strategic initiative in 2006 and merged with the Reklamcılık Advertising Agency in 2013 and assumed the co-chairmanship of the agency he still maintains. He has contributed to 15 books, 60 exhibitions, panels and conferences, and his articles have been published in many magazines, blogs and newspapers. He received the Red Apple Award in 2013 and 2014, the Trace Award in 2015, and the Golden Compass Award in 2017 with the program Reklamarkası, which he has prepared and presented since 2011 and is still broadcast live on Bloomberg HT. He is married and has two children.

He is still a Member of the Supervisory Board of the Advertising Foundation, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Kidney Foundation of Turkey, a Member of the Advisory Board of the Marmara University Republic Museum, and a Member of the Advisory Board of Doğuş University Visual Communication Design Department.

Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu was born in Ordu Mesudiye. He graduated from the Graphic Arts Department of the State Faculty of Applied Fine Arts (with its new name: Marmara University, Department of Graphic Design) in 1979.

He worked in an advertising agency for 1 year, became a research assistant in 1981, and received a doctorate in art in 1986. The artist received 27 international and 44 national awards. He is also the owner of the 1997 Sedat Simavi Visual Arts Award. He opened 34 personal exhibitions, 3 times abroad. His work has been published in over 30 countries. He published 7 covers in The New Yorker, one cover in Forbes, and many illustrations in the New York Times. He is a jury member in many national and international competitions.

The artist, who still works in Yeditepe University Faculty of Fine Arts, continues his works in his workshop in Moda.

He was born in Nicosia – Cyprus in 1964. He started drawing cartoons in 1976 under the influence of the “Gir–Gir” Humour Magazine of Turkey. His cartoons have been published in various newspapers and magazines in Cyprus as well as in many countries of the world since 1983. 

He is one of the five founding members of the “Cypriot – Turkish Cartoonists’ Association” which was established in 1986. Since then, he has been the President of this Association. His works have been exhibited in more than 70 countries and they have been published in international cartoon albums. 

He won 172 awards in various national and international cartoon contests and has many times been elected the “Cartoonist of the Year”. He has been the president of the Cypriot – Turkish Cartoonists’ Association for 23 years.

Jitet Koestana was born in 1967. He is the founder of the Indonesian Gold Pencil Foundation. Actively participating in international cartoon exhibitions and contests. Father of four and undoubtedly the best known and most renowned cartoonist of his country. However, he had no ambition at all to become a cartoonist and he seemed to grow up as a youngster without a future. 

Once he got to the years of understanding, he got a little money from his parents to get started as a salesman of secondhand books. While waiting for customers, he had a lot of time to read, and that became his hobby. He also met Slamet Baijuri, a cartoonist who introduced him to the cartoon world of Semarang. He learned how to draw cartoons, which paper to use, which ink, how to participate in cartoon competitions. It did not do him any harm, because he already won more than two hundred prizes in cartoon competitions all over the world. 

His very first cartoon was sent to a local cartoon contest in 1987: a poor mother who tried to feed her starving child. However, the cartoon was not accepted by the censorship that prevailed in Indonesia at that time under Suharto. Later that year however his first work was published in a local newspaper Suara Merdeka. Several other magazines and newspapers followed, until he found a permanent place in the national Indonesian newspaper 'Kompas National Daily', where he then worked under the direction of another great Indonesian cartoonist GM Sudarta. 

He is also a judge on international cartoon contests held in a number of countries. Jitet is an accomplished cartoonist who holds the MURI record with the most international cartoon awards. Currently Jitet has collected more than 200 international awards.

Marco De Angelis (born in Rome in 1955) is an Italian cartoonist, illustrator, professional journalist, graphic designer. He published from 1975 on over 200 newspapers in Italy and abroad: Il Popolo, La Repubblica (he was redactor of these dailies), Il Messaggero, Il Mattino, Grazia, Gialli Mondadori, Panorama, ComicArt, Help! The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Herald, Vancouver Sun, Tampa Tribune, Herald Tribune, Courrier International, Le Monde, Nebelspatler, Yez, Fire, Fenamizah, NY TID, Confronti and many others. CartoonArts International and The New York Times Syndicate, Cartoon Movement, Go Comics, distributed his satirical works worldwide. His cartoons and illustrations have been published on over 100 books and 450 catalogs of exhibitions, and several websites. 

He is one of the creators and editor in chief of the humor magazine online Buduàr (www.buduar.it)

He is also illustrator of many children’s books for Giunti, De Agostini, La Scuola, Lapis, Salani, ELI and other publishers and he collaborated with many associations, companies and televisions. 

From the first contest in 1972 he won the Golden Palm in the Salon of Humor of Bordighera in 1997, two Prize Council of Europe and several first prizes (two editions in Istanbul, Tehran, Belgrade, Sisak, Dolo, Siena, Pescara, Fano, Krusevac, Chieti, Città di Castello, etc.), a total of 130 italian and international awards. 

He was editor of the international magazine WittyWorld and he is member of cartooning for Peace.

He was born in Istanbul. His first cartoon was published in Gırgır magazine when he was 14 years old. He completed his undergraduate studies at Marmara University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Graphics Department, and his master's degree in illustration at State University of New York/FIT. London Underground Poster Illustration Competition, International Aydın Doğan

Cartoon Competition and American Association of Illustrators are some of the competitions in which he won gold medals. He still continues his cartoon life in New York and Istanbul.

I graduated Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan - Poland in 2001. From 2004 I'm dealing with satirical illustration. On the beginning I was drawing for the cartoon competitions and I received more than 150 prizes on the whole world. Now, I'm working as a freelancer illustrator and I cooperate with the most important magazines in Poland.

He was born in 1946 in Oudenaarde, Belgium. He attends course of secondary teacher training – plastic arts - in Ghent. He is the founder and chairman of the “EUROPEAN CARTOON CONTEST”. In 2005 he founded the EUROPEAN CARTOON CENTER (ECC) in Kruishoutem-Belgium. The ECC wants to promote the cartoon and caricature as being a present day form of art. In June 2007 Rudy’s dream came through with the inauguration of a brand new building to house the European Cartoon Centre.

He was member of several cartoon jury’s in the world and is also organizer of different cartoon exhibitions 

He was born in 1966 in Imishli, Azerbaijan. His first cartoon was printed in comic magazine 

“KIRPI” in 1982. He was graduated from Journalistic Art Institute in 1992. His cartoons more 1000 were printed in many albums of the international exhibitions and competitions. In 2002, the first "Cartoonists Union of Azerbaijan" has established and till 2006 he worked as President of this organization. He was organizer of international cartoonist competition “Molla Nasreddin” which was the first competition in Azerbaijan history that continued 4 years.

He organized “Smiling Cat” International Cartoon Competitions. Now he is the Director First International Cartoon News Center "Humortoons International" (http://scaferli.wixsite.com/humortoons) Web site and Chief-editor “Humor” international Cartoon magazine. He is a board member of International Cartoon Committee. He took part as Member of Jury in more than 50 international cartoon competitions. In international cartoon competitions, he awarded prizes, first, second, third places, gold, silver and bronze medals, including more than 160 awards. His 2 cartoons were included as permanent exhibit in Italy and Austria cartoon museums. He opened individual exhibitions in Iran (2003), in Turkey ( 2011, 2016 ) France (2012) Beligium (2018) and in Slovakia (2019) 

He graduated from Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning in 1997. He completed his Regional Planning Master's Degree in 2000 and his Doctorate Program in 2009 in the same department. 

After his private sector experience, he worked as a research assistant at METU City and Regional Planning Department and took part in various courses including planning studio and design courses. After working as a City Planner at the Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Residence, Dr. Özkan has worked as a career specialist in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism since 2003, including consultancy in different units, and carried out the EU screening process on behalf of the Ministry. 

Between 2006-2009 and 2013-2018, he served as Culture and Promotion Counselor at the Russian Federation Moscow Embassy twice; On behalf of the Ministry, he carried out the activities of our country in the Russian Federation and Belarus, especially in advertising, PR and cultural diplomacy. Dr. Alper Özkan, who served as the Head of Department at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism General Directorate of Promotion between 2011 and 2013, has been serving as the Assistant General Manager of Fine Arts in charge of Visual Arts since 2019. His responsibilities include activities in the field of plastic arts, including Contemporary Art and Poster Design Competitions, which are the Young Art Competitions organized by the Ministry, national and international competitions and exhibitions such as Traditional Turkish Arts, Photography, State Painting and Sculpture.

Zehra Ömeroğlu was born in 1985. She graduated from Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. She completed her master’s degree in Institute of Social Sciences/Business Administration. Her professional career as a cartoonist started in the magazine Bayan Yanı which started its publication as the March 8 supplement of Leman, then became world’s only satirical magazine that consisted mostly of female writers/cartoonists. She continued drawing in Leman, the oldest satirical comics magazine still being published in Turkey. She drew cartoons and comic strips for the magazines Gececi, Mağara, Tarama Ucu and many other cartoon/comic magazines. She still draws cartoons and stories in her column named "İçimdeki Hayvan” meaning “The Animal Inside Me" in Leman. In her cartoons, she usually deals with the absurdity of so-called seriousness in daily life, taboos, human psychology, various conflicts and frames of mind. She also has a book published in 2015. She is also a senior student in the department of Russian Language and Literature currently.