TEHRAN-Iranian cartoonist Alireza Pakdel won the main prize of the comic strip section of the 50th Piracicaba International Humor Exhibition, which was inaugurated in Brazil last week.

A total of 318 works by 175 artists from 30 countries have been selected for the exhibit. Along with Pakdel, three other Iranian artists are also present at the event with their works, namely Bahram Babaei, Behrang Jeddi and Marzieh Khanizadeh-Abyaneh, Mehr reported on Thursday. 

All the selected works will remain on show at the exhibition in Piracicaba, a city in the state of Sao Paulo, until October 29.

Pakdel, 42, previously won the grand prize and the first prize at the festival in 2016.  He was also selected as a member of the jury for the 47th edition of the event.

A caricaturist, illustrator, cartoonist and character designer, Pakdel started working on caricatures in 1994 and collaborated with many important Iranian journals including Golagha and Keyhan Caricature among others.

He has also received more than 100 national and international awards, including the Golden HiTHi Award at the 1st Ferizaj International Cartoon Contest in Kosovo, and the first prize at the PAPB International Cartoon Festival in Indonesia.

The Piracicaba International Humor Exhibition was established in 1974 by a group of journalists, artists and intellectuals. It started with the idea of inserting graphic humor into the Contemporary Art Salon of Piracicaba. 

The event is considered one of the largest in the world in non-genre, making Piracicaba known as the "World Capital of Humor", bringing together the official exhibition of works in cartons, charge, caricatures, and strips.

SS/