Serbian Kragujevac antiwar contest hails Iranian artists

Iranian cartoonists have succeeded to grab three awards at the 21st Kragujevac Salon of Antiwar Cartoon in Serbia.

The bronze plaque of the competition went to Iranian artist Marzieh Khanizadeh Abyaneh for her cartoon depicting a military commander boasting of his medals and an old woman with a despairing look at the pictures of her children killed in a war.    

Alireza Pakdel also was given a cash prize worth 500 Euros by the mayor of the Polish city of Bielsko-Biala, while Hossein Solouki received the same prize from the mayor of the Italian city of Carrara.

According to the officials of the festival, some 987 artworks from 469 artists from 47 countries participated in the competition; and the jury selected 80 of the best works to enter the festival.  

Iranian cartoonist Masoud Shojaee-Tabatabaee served as the president of the jury, but due to the pandemic, he joined the jury virtually. However, he is to attend an exhibition of the competition, which will be open to public at the "October 21 Memorial Museum" in Kragujevac.

The antiwar cartoon contest is organized annually in memory of hundreds of Kragujevac civilians executed by the Nazi occupier in 1941.

The organizers also intend to promote peace by bringing together hundreds of cartoonists from all over the world. 

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