TEHRAN – Celebrated Iranian cartoonist Alireza Pakdel has been selected for the jury of the 8th KalDer Bursa International Cartoon Contest in Turkey.

Pakdel and Bulgarian cartoonist Alla Georgieva will join the jury composed of Ahmet Aykanat, Mehmet Kahraman, Mehmet Zeber, Halit Kurtulmus, Olga Guler, Emin Direkci, Kutlu Sahin, Aykan Kurkur and Arzu Ozel, all from Turkey, to select the winners, which will be announced on February 7, 2022.

Pakdel was also a member of the jury at the 2nd International Organ Donation Cartoon Competition organized by the Turkish Transplant Foundation and the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture and Department of Visual Communication Design at the Istanbul Medeniyet University.

He has won awards at several international prestigious competitions, including the award of success from the 31st Aydin Dogan cartoon festival in Turkey in 2014 and the Grand Prix of 43 Salão Internacional de Humor de Piracicaba in Brazil in 2016.

In 2017, the World Press Cartoon in Portugal also gave its grand prize and first prize to Pakdel. In addition, the 36th International Nasreddin Hodja Cartoon in Turkey awarded him its special prize in 2016.

The Satyrykon Legnica in Poland also honored him with its special prize in 2020.

The KalDer Bursa International Cartoon Contest topic is “Together We Are Strong Together We Succeed” and will be held in the Adult Category for 17 and above, and the Young Category for 16 and below.

“What needs to be done? Just saving the day or walking hand in hand towards the future? The responsibility of the risks the World face, concerns not only governments but also private sector organizations, non-governmental organizations and academies. Society is not indifferent to it, too,” the organizers said in a statement.

“It’s obvious that nothing is like before. The pandemic affected the whole world in terms of economy as well. When we take a look at the circle of life, we see the signs of the fact that climate change will cause both economic and social problems in the near future. The business world that aims for long-term objectives is uncertain about next year’s targets. The business world tries to preserve savings, which built up over the years and to save  the day at the same time.”

The statement also added, “Finding common purpose, joint principles and mutual understandings is the key to break this life cycle. Not only to save the day but also to walk hand in hand to the future, we organize this contest within the scope of ‘Together We Are Strong Together We Succeed’.”

The cartoon contest will be organized in collaboration with the KalDer Bursa Branch Office and Anadolu Karikaturculer Dernegi (Anatolian Caricaturists Society) along with the 19th Quality and Success Symposium, which will take place in Bursa on May 26, 2022.

Photo: Cartoonist Alireza Pakdel in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW