International Cartoon Exhibition, “No to Drugs!”

Art Gallery
Ceremonial opening: 17 Oktober 17:00 PM
Organizer: The State Customs Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic

An International Cartoon Competition exhibition and awards ceremony was opened in the Museum Centre on 17 October. 670 works by 307 artists from 63 countries were entered in the International Cartoon Competition ‘Molla Nasreddin – Azerbaijan’ with the theme ‘No to Narcotics’. The competition was dedicated to the 105th anniversary of the Muslim East’s first satirical journal ‘Molla Nasreddin’, founded in 1906. The exhibition was supported by the State Customs Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Azerbaijan Republic and the International Federation of Cartoonists Organisations. It was organised by the Artists’ Union of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Cartoonists Union. Well-know cartoonists were invited to serve as a jury: Andrey Feldshteyn (USA), Bayram Hajizade (Azerbaijan), Mikhail Zlatovsky (Russia), Bernard Bouton (France), Rahim Baggal Asgari (Iran) and Valentin Georgiev (Bulgaria).
The International Cartoon Competition ‘Molla Nasreddin – Azerbaijan’ is already an annual tradition in Azerbaijan. This year it was awarded five stars by FECO (the International Federation of Cartoonists Organisations) for the objectivity and democracy of its voting procedure and for the high level of organisation. This is the highest possible award for an international cartoon competition.
Artists from different countries raised their voices in protest against the phenomenon of drug addiction with interesting and original works. The exhibition graphically illustrated the fact that this problem creates the same distress in everyone, irrespective of language, religion or race.
The jury awarded the gold medal to Alessandro Gatto (Italy), well-known cartoonist-artist and winner of more than 100 international competitions; the silver medal went to Vladimir Kazanevski (Ukraine), who has amassed more than 300 awards in international competitions; and the bronze medal was awarded to Marat Valiahmetov (Spain), the director of the ‘Big Encyclopedia of Caricature’ international website. Special awards went to Stanislav Ashmarin (Russia) and Boris Erenburg (Israel). It was particularly welcome that the name of Azerbaijani artist Tural Hasanli was among the competition winners.
Special diplomas were presented to the jury.
The Artists Union of Azerbaijan special diplomas were presented for their support to the organisation of the International Cartoon Competition ‘Molla Nasreddin – Azerbaijan’ with the theme ‘No to Narcotics’ and for their services to the promotion of Azerbaijani cartoon art in the international community:
President of the International Federation of Cartoonists Organisations, Mr. Peter Nieuwendijk – Netherlands.
Life member of the Board of the International Federation of Cartoonists Organisations, M. Bernard Bouton – Fance.
Head of the International (Cartunion) Cartoonists’ Forum, Andrey Feldshteyn – USA.
President of the Iran Cartoonists Association, head of the Tabriz Cartoon Museum, Rahim Baggal Asgari - Iran.
Well-known cartoonist/artist and laureate of international cartoon exhibitions, Valentin Georgiev - Bulgaria.
Well-known cartoonist/artist, chairman of the Russian Cartoonists Union, secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists, awarded the French Legion d’honneur and honorary member of the Azerbaijan Cartoonists Union Mikhail Zlatovsky – Russia.