TEHRAN – The 34th Aydin Dogan International Cartoon Competition awarded its second prize to Iranian artist Shahram Rezai for his work on international migration, the organizers announced on Tuesday.

Ross Thomson from the United Kingdom won the first prize and Raimundo Rucke Santos Souza from Brazil was selected as third winner during a meeting of the international jury at Bodrum Isil Club in Istanbul on Monday.

Santos Souza and Thomson also were among a group of artists honored with lifetime achievement awards.
  
Iranian cartoonists Ehsan Ganji and Dokhshid Qodratipur along with Luc Descheemaeker from Belgium, Muhamed Djerlek from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Darko Drljevic from Montenegro, Vasco Gargalo from Portugal, Alessandro Gatto from Italy, Krzysztof Grzondziel from Poland and Silvano Mello from Brazil were also honored.

The competition is held every year by the Aydin Dogan Foundation that promotes the education and empowerment of girls and gender equality in all its efforts.

This year’s Special Award “Empowered Girls, Empowered Futures” was presented to Turkish cartoonist Fethi Gürcan Mermertas. 

The winning cartoons and a selection of submissions are currently on display in an exhibit at the Milta Bodrum Marina Ottoman Shipyard Governorate Art Gallery. The exhibition will run June 27.

The 34th Aydin Dogan International Cartoon Competition will be celebrated with an award ceremony in Istanbul during November.

Photo: This work by Iranian cartoonist Shahram Rezai won the second prize at the 34th Aydin Dogan International Cartoon Competition in Istanbul, Turkey on June 19, 2017.

MMS/YAW