Since the beginning of the industrial revolution and especially since its globalisation, humanity has had to face challenges like inequality, demographic change, migration, poverty, pandemics, wars, power struggles, national and international hegemonies, dictatorships, fanaticism and disinformation. Such challenges remain, and can quickly produce global upheavals that change the course of human history.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, there is the threat of a third world war, or worse, a nuclear war, and the return of ideological, economic and geopolitical conflicts between two antagonistic hegemonic blocs. This state of affairs jeopardises the survival, if not of humanity, at least of our societies and the cohesion of the European Union.
The Libex 2022 competition
Press cartoonists participating in the fourth international political satire competition organised by the Centre Librexpression were asked to illustrate this tragic situation graphically.
281 participants from 63 countries submitted 490 works to the jury. The jury was composed of Fabio Magnasciutti (Italian cartoonist), Marilena Nardi (Italian cartoonist), Tom Janssen (Dutch cartoonist), Jaume Capdevilla or KAP (Spanish cartoonist), Raffaella Spinazzi (Italian blogger), and chaired by Thierry Vissol (director of Libex). Based on four criteria - technique, originality, relevance and irony - the jury selected 55 works by artists from 30 countries, the 10 finalists and 3 winners.
The first prize went to Jitet Kustana (Indonesia), the second to Cristina Sampaio (Portugal) and the third to Niels Bo Bojesen (Denmark). The other seven finalists are, in alphabetical order: Apolo Doroteo Guerra Mechain (Peru), Ilya Katz (Israel), Vladimir Kazanevsky (Ukraine), Paolo Lombardi (Italy), Elena Ospina (Colombia), Gatis Šļūka (Latvia), TRAX (Christine Traxeler - France).
Exhibition and catalogue
Inaugurated on 19 September, during the 18th edition of the LectorInFabula festival (of which Voxeurop is a partner), the exhibition of the 55 selected drawings is open to the public until December 2022, in the cloister of the San Benedetto monastery in Conversano (BA). A catalogue reproducing the works on display and postcards of the ten finalists are available to the public.
The Libex 2022 competition was organised by the Euro-Mediterranean Librexpression Centre of the Giuseppe di Vagno Foundation (1889-1921) in collaboration with Lectorinfabula, Pagina'21, Voxeurop, Fany Blog, Dibujantes Sin Frontieras. Based in Conversano (BA) at the Foundation's headquarters, the Centre promotes freedom of expression, political satire and dialogue on these themes across both shores of the Mediterranean through publications, conferences, workshops for students and teachers, exhibitions and the Foundation's web magazine. An extensive Community Library, I Granai del Sapere, is available to students and researchers at the Foundation's headquarters.
The other finalists
Click on an image to open the gallery:
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