Winners of COVID-19 Cartoon Festival to Be Displayed at Iran’s Urban Sites

Director of the Visual Arts Center of Hozeh Honari of Iran has said that winners of the international cartoon festival that Iran held in the virtual space on the battle with COVID-19, entitled “We’ll Defeat Coronavirus”, will go on display in the urban sites.

Following negotiations with officials from Tehran Beautification Organization – affiliated with the Municipality of Tehran- and the Tehran Metro, the works of art participating in the cartoon contest will be exhibited in the urban sites, in addition to IranCartoon website on the Internet, the director noted.

The cartoon festival has been held under the auspices of the Iranian Vice Presidency for Science and Technology as part of a strategy to create a synergy between the artists and the activists from the technology and innovation ecosystem in the battle with coronavirus.

An announcement about the international Covid-19 cartoon festival was made on March 1.

According to secretary of the virtual festival, Masoud Shojaee Tabataba’e, cartoonists from 80 countries submitted their works in less than a month after the initial announcement.

Considering that every contestant was permitted to send up to 5 works of art, the deadline for the submission of cartoons was extended following requests from the applicants, Shojaee Tabataba’e added, noting that the secretariat of the festival has finally received more than 4,200 works from 88 countries after 40 days.

The cartoons have been grouped into four categories, namely boosting morale, guardians of health, health tips, and content creation in the fight against COVID-19, he added.

The story of each cartoon has been inspired by the culture of its creator in different counties, the Iranian official noted.

He also stated that organizers of the festival decided to display the cartoons on the Internet before the deadline for participation in the event, because the cartoons usually reflect the everyday subjects in the society and their influence would decrease over time.

“More than 2,200 works are currently on display on this website. These cartoons have so far attracted more than two million visitors,” Shojaee Tabataba’e noted.

The highest number of cartoonists taking part in the contest is from Iran, followed by China and Turkey, he added, noting that a jury comprised of Iranian and foreign judges will select the winners in an online closing ceremony later this week.

The international “We’ll Defeat Coronavirus” festival is sponsored by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance’s Department of Visual Arts, the Visual Arts Center of Hozeh Honari, the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, Chronicles of Victory Center, the Barakat Foundation, and Iranian messenger iGap.