10th Tehran International Cartoon Biennial kicks off

TEHRAN,May 14(MNA) – The 10th Tehran International Cartoon Biennial, displaying over 500 works by Iranian and foreign cartoonists, was inaugurated during a ceremony at Tehran’s Saba Art and Cultural Institute on Monday. Cartoonists from Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia and China are competing with Iranian artists during the month-long event, director of the Iran’s Cartoon House Masud Shojaei-Tabatabaii said during a press conference held here on Sunday. Angel Boligan from Mexico and Eduardo Baptistão from Brazil were invited to join the jury, but they were unable to travel to Iran due the financial problems the biennial faced this year, he added. However, pictures of entries will be mailed to several of them for final judgment. Iranian artists Bahram Azimi, Bahram Arjmand-Nia, Jamal Rahmati, Mohammadreza Dust-Mohammadi and Ali Jahanshahi are also on the panel. Shojaei-Tabatabaii said that the winners will be announced during a ceremony on June 2. A selection of the works will be displayed in Yasuj, Kohkiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad Province, concurrent with the Tehran exhibit and the Ahvaz Museum of Contemporary Art will be the next host. CDs containing images of the works on display at the biennial will be distributed during the closing ceremony. This year the biennial is focusing on the themes of “Persian Cat”, “Dilemma” and “Superstition”. The cartoon section of the biennial is dedicated to works on “Superstition”. “Persian Cat” is the theme of the caricature section, and the comic strip section centers on “Dilemma”. Saba Institute is located on Mozaffar St., off Taleqani Ave., near Felestin Square. The biennial has been organized by the Iranian House of Cartoon.