The 20th International Cartoon Contest – Syria announces winners during a ceremony at Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts

The Annual International Cartoon Contest – Syria- on Monday announced the names of the winners of its 20th session during a ceremony titled (A tribute to the spirit of the martyr cartoonist Naji Al-Ali and resistance in Palestine) at the Drama Hall in Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts in Damascus.

More than 300 artists from 63 countries participated in the competition. The top three places went to the Iranian cartoonist Ismail Babaei in first place, the Russian artist Anatoly Radin in second place, and the Cuban artist Javier Torres in third place.  The jury comprised members from Indonesia, China, Romania, Egypt and Syria. Nidal Qawshah, Wissam Asaad and Mowafaq Makhoul represented Syria in the jury.

The ceremony’s program included an exhibition that displayed more than 100 cartoon works selected from the works participating in the competition in this edition.

Then, a short film was screened about the life and works of the martyr artist Naji Al-Ali and how he was assassinated by the treacherous Zionist entity, followed by a short cartoon film entitled “Al-Wajbah”, after which the results were announced. the program also included honoring Maestro Adnan Fathallah, who led the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music.

Minister of Culture Lubana Mushaweh said in a statement that the festival in this session paid tribute to the spirit of the martyr Palestinian artist Naji Al-Ali, the maker of character of the resistant child “Hanzala”, which is still alive until today and it remains an icon for the Arabs who have resisted and are still resisting Zionist criminality and terrorism.

She pointed out that Syria will continue to support the Palestinian cause, and this festival presents diverse and important works at the world level with the art of caricature to unite the word of free peoples against the false and biased policies of Western governments.

In turn, the artist Raed Khalil, director and founder of the contest since 2005, explained that this session witnessed wide participation from all parts of the world.

He stressed that the contest’s administration wanted to say to the Palestinian people and the resistance, through this event, that we support them in the confrontation of the Zionist enemy through the art of caricature, which the enemy fears because of its ability to expose its lies before world public opinion.

Nada Haj Khidr