European Cartoon Award 2020

Studio Europa Maastricht aims to stimulate debate on European current affairs and help shape the future of Europe, by bringing people from different disciplines and opinions together. Cartoons are a source of inspiration and an indispensable part of an open debate on Europe. To honour their significance, we launch the European Cartoon Award together with European Press Prize.

It takes courage to create cartoons. They are expressive and conspicuous by nature, often provoke offence. Sometimes they even push the limits of people’s conceptions. Cartoons can travel fast and wide. They are the hallmark of an open society and freedom of expression. But cartoonists are vulnerable, like any other critical journalist.

We want to encourage discussion and debate on the topic of Europe and are therefore thrilled to announce our first European Cartoon Award, one of the biggest in the world – with a €10.000 prize.

Watch the cartoons of Europe

On 11 June we announced the shortlist of the very first edition of the European Cartoon Award! Hundreds of cartoons were submitted to the prize and 16 cartoonists from Denmark, Italy, Romania, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey, and the UK have been nominated.

Who will win the very first European Cartoon Award? We will announce the winner on 1 October. More information will follow soon!

The dramaticity of plastic pollution

By Agim Sulaj
published by Fany Blog; Mundiario, Italy

Cut

By Marco De Angelis
published by Buduàr; Courrier International, Italy

Changing the guard

By Hajo de Reijger
published by Pers & Prent; Cartoon Movement, The Netherlands

Liberty

By Gorilla
published by De Groene Amsterdammer, The Netherlands

Extinction

By Ben Jennings
published by The i Newspaper, United Kingdom

Global Warming

By Victor Eugen Mihai
published by Sportul Băcăuan, Romania

Europe & Italy

By Arend van Dam
published by L’Espresso, The Netherlands

World politics

By Halit Kurtulmuş
published by Cartoon Movement, Turkey

Greta Thunberg

By Claudio Antonio Gomes
published by Courrier International, Other

Safe zone

By Niels Bo Bojesen
published by Jyllands-Posten, Denmark

Lonely Boris

By Ruben L. Oppenheimer
published by De Limburger, The Netherlands

Real friends

By Mette Dreyer
published by Politiken, Denmark

King Kongson

By Tomás Serrano
published by El Español, Spain

Vatican summit

By Joep Bertrams
published by De Limburger, The Netherlands

Mass media manipulation

By Costel Pătrășcan
published by Representation of the European Commission in Romania, Romania

Jenga – Earth’s sixth mass extinction

By Anne Derenne
published by Cartoon Movement, Spain

Meet the nominees

Cartoon: The dramaticity of plastic pollution

Agim Sulaj

Agim Sulaj was born in Tirana, the capital of Albania, in 1960, but spent his childhood and adolescence in the coastal city of Vlora. Since a very young age Agim experiences his passion and love for paintings and art and the talent is evident very early on.
In 1985, he completes his studies at the Academy of Arts in Tirana and starts collaborating with ‘Hosteni’, a political and satirical magazine. This exposes the young artist to the world of humour and satires, an important element for the formation of his own artistic work. Simultaneously, he develops a hyperrealistic style that is more dominant in the later works.
In his cartoons, he focuses on the major social and political problems of the 21st century, such as world poverty, environmental pollution, the life of an immigrant and other social topics.
For the first time in 1993, Agim presented his works carried out during the communist period, in a personal exhibition “Rally di Rimini” in Italy, where his portfolio was warmly welcomed. Since that time, he has settled in the city of Rimini.
Agim Sulaj is the winner of many international prizes and he has exhibited in famous galleries in Italy, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and recently also in Paris, Oxford and London. And now in Kruishoutem, the Belgian capital of the cartoon.
His work has been called “a fine, surreal, satirical illustration, metaphor for the state of the environment and the failure to protect it”.

Cartoon: Greta Thunberg

Claudio Antonio Gomes

Claudio Antonio Gomes was born in 1972 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He works for several large newspapers and magazines and has won various awards in international competitions.

Claudio Antonio Gomes was born in 1972 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He studied at the Guignard University of Art of Minas Gerais, and currently lives in Salvador.
He works for several large newspapers and magazines, including O Cometa Itabirano, Jornal do Brasil, Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil, Courrier International, and Gráfica Magazine.
He has won various awards in international competitions in Brazil, Cuba, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Colombia, Portugal, China, Iran and Macedonia.

Cartoon: World politics

Halit Kurtulmuş

Halit Kurtulmuş was born in 1970 in Kardzhali, Bulgaria. He received his art education in Dimitar Dobrovich Sliven Fine Arts High School. In 1991, he emigrated to Bursa, Turkey. Besides his cartoons, his work also includes paintings. He is a member of the Anatolian Cartoonists Association and the Bulgarian Cartoonists Association. He received many awards in national and international cartoon competitions.

Why are political cartoons important? The answer to this question is very short: "To show that the king is naked."

Cartoon: Safe zone

Niels Bo Bojesen

Niels Bo Bojesen (1958) is a Danish editorial cartoonist. He is a graduate of the Danish School of Design and attended the School of Visual Arts at the Department of Media Arts, New York.

Niels Bo Bojesen (1958) is a Danish editorial cartoonist. He is a graduate of the Danish School of Design and attended the School of Visual Arts at the Department of Media Arts, New York.
He creates editorial cartoons for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten as well as international websites, newspapers and magazines.
He has received several awards and honours around the world.

"When I have the empty paper or screen in front of me - there is still the basic joy of it - drawing and asking the questions: 'Why?' and 'what if'.''

Cartoon: Jenga – Earth’s sixth mass extinction

Anne Derenne

Anne Derenne (alias ADENE) is a French cartoonist and illustrator based in Madrid, Spain. She studied International Economics, getting a master’s degree in Development Economics in 2006. In 2011, she began her career as a freelance cartoonist. She is collaborating with Cartoon Movement, Cartooning for Peace and with different magazines, NGOs and International Institutions.
Her artwork has been exhibited in a lot of collective international exhibitions worldwide and she has won several international prizes for her cartoons.

"Powerful persons never like to be criticized, and even less when it is done through satire. Cartoons are important as a counter-power."

Cartoon: Mass media manipulation

Costel Pătrășcan

For thirty years, Costel Pătrășcan’s cartoons have been published in the largest newspapers in Romania, as well as satirical magazines and television programmes. He is a well-known Romanian cartoonist, known for his humor and prolific output.
Over time, he has won dozens of awards at international caricature competitions. Pătrășcan set up an international caricature contest in the Romanian city of Braila, as well as a humor festival.
When he is not working on his cartoons, he acts as a civil society activist, as well as a voice for the environment in his city.

Cartoon: Vatican summit

Joep Bertrams

Joep Bertrams (1946) is a Dutch illustrator and cartoonist. He illustrated several books and picture books.

Joep Bertrams (1946) is a Dutch illustrator and cartoonist. He illustrated several books and picture books.
Until 2011, he drew the daily political cartoon in the Dutch newspaper Het Parool. Since then, he works as a cartoonist for De Groene Amsterdammer and Dutch regional papers. His drawings have also been published in magazines, periodicals and several international media.
From 2004 until 2010, he made animated political cartoons for the Dutch television programme NOVA.
His entire work, including his most recent animations, can be found on his website www.yoopdeloop.com.

“A political cartoon shows at once what can be said. It often evokes an emotion through humor, which conveys a message even more emphatically."

Cartoon: Lonely Boris

Ruben L. Oppenheimer

Ruben L. Oppenheimer (1975) is a Dutch cartoonist, well-known for his political cartoons. He studied graphic design at the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and illustrative design at the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool in Antwerp.
Oppenheimer works as freelancer for several Dutch and Belgian newspapers, such as De Standaard, De Gelderlander, Leeuwarder Courant, NRC Handelsblad and NRC Next. His cartoons are often published with his signature Rubenl.nl.

Cartoon: Europe & Italy

Arend van Dam

Arend van Dam (1945) is a Dutch cartoonist. His work includes political cartoons, as well as cartoons and drawings about everyday life.

Arend van Dam (1945) is a Dutch cartoonist. His work includes political cartoons, as well as cartoons and drawings about everyday life. Most of his drawings are published in the Netherlands, by newspapers such as Hervormd Nederland, Centraal Weekblad, de Tijd and Het Financieele Dagblad. His work has also been published in France, Germany and the USA. His general cartoons have been featured in professional magazines and periodicals and in all kinds of publications of organisations and businesses.
With his cartoons he has won several international prizes.
Every year he participates with some of his recent cartoons in the annual exhibition “World Press Cartoon” in Portugal, in the “Muestra Internacional de Humor Gráfico” in Alcalá (near Madrid) in Spain, and also in the annual exhibition “Politics in Pictures” in the Netherlands.

Cartoon: Liberty

Gorilla (Herman van Bostelen)

Gorilla is a collective of five designers, consisting of Richard van der laken (De Designpolitie / What Design can do), Pepijn Zurburg (De Designpolitie / What Design can do), Alex Clay (Lesley Moore), Karin van den Brandt (Lesley Moore) and Herman van Bostelen.
From October 2006 until April 2009 their images were published daily on the front page of the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant. Since then, their work is published in the Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer.
Gorilla published three books, exhibited in several places around the world, including Amsterdam, New Delhi, London and Warsaw. They have won various awards for their work, such as the European Design Award and the Dutch ‘Inkspotprijs’ for Best Cartoon.

Cartoon: Cut

Marco De Angelis

Marco De Angelis (Rome 1955, Italy) is a cartoonist, professional journalist, illustrator and graphic designer. His work has been published in over 200 newspapers and on a great number of websites in Italy and abroad, including Il Popolo, La Republica, The New York Times, Washington Post and Le Monde.
He is one of the creators and editor in chief of the online humour magazine Buduàr (www.buduar.it) where he publishes cartoons and articles.
Cartoon Arts International and The New York Times Syndicate distributed his works worldwide. He was also the editor from Italy for WittyWorld and he is part of Cartoon Movement and Cartooning for Peace.
He worked as an illustrator for many children’s books and magazines of the largest Italian publishers. He collaborated with many associations, companies and televisions as illustrator and graphic designer.
He has received around 130 awards for his work. His artworks are exhibited in many museums and he was jury member in several contests.

"True satire is impartial and must be able to criticize and laugh at everything and everyone, without fear."

Cartoon: King Kongson

Tomás Serrano

Tomás Serrano was born in León (Spain). He always loved drawing stories and characters. He obtained the title of architect from the ETSA of Madrid and worked many years creating buildings, but never forgot his passion for illustration and cartooning. In 1995, he was awarded with the Premio Mingote. In 2011, he won one of the World Press Cartoon prizes.
He has written and illustrated published children’s books, and even animated a music video for an American singer.
His works have been published in the magazine Blanco y Negro, the newspaper ABC and other media such as the Magazine of the University of Chicago. From its foundation in 2015, he has been the political cartoonist of the online newspaper El Español.

"Political cartoons are essential in the press, they condense into an image full of suggestions, mainly humorous, an opinion on the news or the editorial of a newspaper."

Cartoon: Extinction

Ben Jennings

Ben Jennings is a cartoonist/illustrator based in the UK. His cartoons appear regularly in The Guardian and the i Newspaper.

"I remain hopeful and believe this unique art form will survive because as a form of communication and satire nothing can match it."

Cartoon: Changing the guard

Hajo de Reijger

Hajo is a Dutch political cartoonist based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. He makes illustrations and cartoons for the dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad, and is also active as a live-cartoonist, where he turns the most complex or boring meetings into enlightening cartoons.

Cartoon: Real friends

Mette Dreyer

Mette Dreyer was born 1956 in Denmark. She was educated at The Academy of Applied Arts and started as cartoonist at the daily paper B.T. in 1984. She is a cartoonist at the daily paper Politiken since 1998. She has received The Storm P award and the Vibedehus Foundation Travel Scholarship.

Mette Dreyer was born 1956 in Denmark. She was educated at The Academy of Applied Arts and started as cartoonist at the daily paper B.T. in 1984.
She is a cartoonist at the daily paper Politiken since 1998. She has received The Storm P award and the Vibedehus Foundation Travel Scholarship.

Cartoon: Global Warming

Victor Eugen

Victor Eugen Mihai is a Romanian journalist with over 30 years of experience. He is a member of the Union of Professional Journalists in Romania and the Federation of Cartoonist Organisations.

Victor Eugen Mihai is a Romanian journalist with over 30 years of experience. He is a member of the Union of Professional Journalists in Romania and the Federation of Cartoonist Organisations. As a cartoonist, he has made three cartoon albums: “Stop the Earth, I Want to Get Off!” (1995), “VEMmania” (1997) and “VEM” (2016). His work has been exhibited in over 50 countries around the world. He is the organiser of the International Cartoon Contest in Bacau, Romania.

"The challenge for today's cartoonists is not to give up. In Romania there were a lot of good cartoonists, now there are just a few."

Meet the jury

The Panel of Judges reads and examines each longlisted project and selects a shortlist and finally a winner and a runner-up of the award. The chair of the Preparatory Committee, Emanuele Del Rosso, is present at the judges’ meeting for information, background, and motivation of the longlist. The chair of the Panel of Judges makes a judges’ report, detailing why the winning project deserves the recognition of an award. Get to know the Panel of Judges of the European Cartoon Award 2020:

Jury

Janet H. Anderson

Janet H. Anderson is a journalist and editor covering mass atrocity crimes processes. As a trainer and mentor she supports NGOs and campaigning journalists in making impact via the media and developing their advocacy skills on a range of human rights subjects. Janet also co-hosts Asymmetrical Haircuts: a podcast providing a gender balance to international criminal justice commentary. Trained by the BBC, she has worked for a wide range of broadcast and published media across Europe and Africa.

Jury

Ramsés Morales

Ramsés Morales graduated in 1996 in graphic arts at Art Academy of Trinidad. Now he works as a graphic artist drawing political cartoons and illustrations for the international press.

Ramsés Morales graduated in 1996 in graphic arts at Art Academy of Trinidad. Now he works as a graphic artist drawing political cartoons and illustrations for the international press. He publishes his drawings in Courrier International (France), Nebelspalter (Switzerland) and Spotsk (Denmark), but his drawings also are being published in Canadian and American press.

Jury

Simone Berghuys

Simone Berghuys is picture editor at De Groene Amsterdammer since 2003. She has also worked for publications like Trouw, Het Parool and VPRO.

Simone Berghuys is picture editor at De Groene Amsterdammer since 2003. Choosing between photographs, illustrations and cartoons on a weekly basis. She has also worked for publications like Trouw, Het Parool and VPRO. “For De Groene, she rather seeks large, associative images to literal illustrations of the content of an article. She prefers classical, substantively strong pictures over keeping up with the latest trends.” - De Groene Amsterdammer

Judge Janet H. Anderson:

“Editorial cartoons are a special type of commentary; they have so many boxes they have to tick in terms of visual storytelling, connection to current events, and providing a clear message. It’s a tough ask! For this first ever European Cartoon Award, we judges were all aware that we would be helping to define what this category of journalism can be. What shone out of these cartoons were their sharp critiques, often very funny, of current affairs. We hope this selection helps to illustrate how important this genre of commentary is. We all want to encourage more cartoonists across Europe to enter for this fabulous prize in the years to come.”

Meet the preparatory committee

The European Cartoon Award’s Preparatory Committee consists of members from different European countries, speaking a multitude of languages: Emanuele Del Rosso, Menekşe Çam, Vladimir Kazanevsky, Gatis Šļūka and Thierry Vissol. The Preparatory Committee is in charge of selecting the longlist for the European Cartoon Award; a daunting task. Hundreds of cartoons come in – in all shapes and sizes – written in all possible European languages and on every conceivable subject. The Preparatory Committee goes through all these cartoons, comparing the incompatible, and discussing them all, in order to narrow the selection down to a longlist of cartoons that is to be submitted to the Panel of Judges.