The 19th International Cartoon Exhibition-Syria 2023

Some 359 artists from 69 countries are participating in the 19th International Cartoon Exhibition which kicked off on the 14th of May at Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts in Damascus.

“The name of the late famous novelist Hanna Mina was given to the 19th  cartoon competition in recognition of his position in Syrian contemporary literature . It is a kind of appreciation from the activity’s management for this writer and for the great impact he has on Syrian literature, especially in novel,” Editor-in-Chief of Theaters and Music, Juan Jaan, who was among the members of the national competition’s jury, told Syria Times e-newspaper.

He clarified that the winning paintings and all displayed works focus on human beings, especially daily suffering of a person, his dreams, aspirations and setbacks.

“This is the role of caricature, which relies on reality. The art of caricature in Syria had bloomed when daily printed newspaper were publishing, and it dealt with  political, economic and social topics.  This art may witness a decline during this period, and this festival came to activate this and noble human art,” Jaan added.

For his part, artist Darko Drljevic told us: “ I know that the best and most famous Syrian cartoonist is Raed Khalil. He is the winner of many awards and recognitions all over the planet. He also won the first prize last year in my country, Montenegro. He runs and edits a great website about world caricature. This site contains the fastest and latest news about all the results of the caricature contest, the announcement of the names of the winners, the prize-winning works, the announcement of the latest contests, and the like. Very useful and valuable site. It is always a pleasure for me to participate in all cartoon contests published by Syriacartoon. Despite all the difficulties and problems in your country, this site contributes to the development of culture and the expansion of cooperation and international communication throughout the planet. In that name, I wish every happiness and success to this artist and in general to all people in Syria.”

According to artist Raed Khalil, the caricature exhibition succeeded, through its previous sessions, in breaking the siege imposed on Syria, building bridges of communication and opening the door to cultural and artistic dialogue with countries from all over the world.

It is worthy to note that the 19th International Cartoon Exhibition will last until tomorrow.

The Selected Cartoonists that took part in the competition, according to raed Khalil website, are:

Mohammad .Hosein Akbari -Iran,

Mikhail Zlatkovsky-RUSSIA
Lijie Yang-CHINA
Mahdi Ebham- Iran
Snezana Comor – Serbia
Mojmir Mihatov-CROATIA
CIVAL EINSTEIN – BRAZIL
IGOR PASHCHENKO – RUSSIA
Boedy Hp-Indonesia
Igor Smirnov-RUSSIA
Mihai Ignat-Romania
Muzaffar Yulchiboev-Uzbekistan
PHU NGUYEN – USA
Slobodan Butir-Croatia
VICTOR EUGEN MIHAI VEM – ROMANIA
Wei li-China
Abolghasem Tahanian -IRAN
AHMAD REZA SOHRABI – IRAN
Ahmed Khabali-MOROCCO
Alawi  – IRAQ
Alexander DUBOVSKY-Ukraine
ALEXANDER SHMIDT – RUSSIA
Ali Qahtan Mohamed-IRAQ
Ameen Alhabarah – Saudi Arabia
ANTÓNIO SANTOS- PORTUGAL
Benhariza abdelghani -Algeria
CAI WEIDONG -CHINA
Constantin Pavel -Romania
CIVAL EINSTEIN – BRAZIL
Dariusz Dabrowski -Poland
Darko Drljevic- Montenegro
Doru Axinte -Romania
Eder Santos-Brasil
Ehsan Cheraghi Iranshahi – IRAN
Esmaeil Babaei-Iran
Fan Lintao -China
Fritz Pelenkahu-Indonesia
GABRIEL RUSU -ROMANIA
Hasan ISMAIL-SYRIA
HAZEM Nassar – USA
HOSSEIN RAHIMKHANI – IRAN
Igor Smirnov- Russia
Iman Nouri Najafi-Iran
IZABELA KOWALSKA-WIECZOREK- POLAND4
Jaiken Guerrero – Perú
Javier Cubero Torres-Cuba
li jingshan-China
Li Xiaoyang-China
Liviu Stanila-ROMANIA
Louis PoL-Australia
LUIS ANGEL ESPINOSA – CUBA
Maher Badr-Egypt
Makhmudjon Eshonkulov-Uzbekistan
Marian Avramescu-ROMANIA
MECHO – COSTA RICA
Tsvetkov Ivailo – Bulgaria
MIROSLAW HAJNOS – POLAND
Mohsen Jafari -Iran
Ning Bin -CHINA
Oguz Gurel- Turkey
Oleg Gutsol- Ukraina
Omar Seddek- Egypt
PASCAL GELU-ROMANIA
Pepe Sanmartin-Peru
Qasim Ahmed Qapalan- IRAQ
Roberto Castillo-Cuba
Raed Khalil-SYRIA
Sakhraoui Tarek- ALGERIA
Salar Eshratkhah – Iran
Shimaa Alsharif-Egypt
Seyran Caferli- Azerbaijan
Valentin Druzhinin – Russia
Valeri Alexandrov – Bulgaria
Valentin Georgiev- Bulgaria
Viacheslav Kapreliants- Ukraine
Wesam Khalil- Egypt
Yalda Hasheminezhad – Iran
Тarasenko Valeri- Russia

Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour