DOHA: Dar Al Sharq, Qatar’s leading media house, has launched a cartoons exhibition as part of the Media Expo Qatar 2012 at the Doha Exhibition Centre.
Speaking at a function held at the Exhibition Centre, Khalid Al Sayed, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, said that Dar Al Sharq has launched an Arabic cartoons competition to encourage the art of cartoon-drawing.
The total award money for the competition is QR100,000. The first prize carries a cash reward of QR50,000, the second prize a reward of QR30,000 and third prize QR20,000. Each prize will also carry a shield of appreciation.
This is the largest prize money for Arabic cartoons offered in the entire Arab world.
Dar Al Sharq announced the prize to encourage talented Qatari and other Arab cartoonists to pursue their profession and as part of its efforts to help develop the media in the region.
“The aim is to attract cartoonists from different Arab countries and to help them explore their talent in the field,” said Khaled Al Sayed.
The awards will be presented on the sidelines of the Media Expo Qatar 2012 which kicked off yesterday and will continue until tomorrow.
Cartoon is a satirical art that exaggerates in image and distorts the picture or features of characters or bodies to make a critical commentary on social and political issues in a country. Cartoons are, in many cases, considered more powerful than articles and reports in newspapers in highlighting and addressing issues.
Cartoons attract the attention of readers instantly because of the simplicity of the medium in expressing ideas.
Khalid Al Sayed, who is supervising the cartoon contest, announced that 154 cartoonists from different Arab countries participated and the number of entries was 870.
Women’s participation in the contest has been very encouraging as they represent 10 percent of the total, Al Sayed added.
Some of the entries will be displayed at the Media Expo 2012. The majority of participants are from Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Jordan.
A technical and professional committee, comprising of leading cartoonists from across the Arab world, including Nidal Hashim from Jordan, Khalid Al Sharradi from Morocco and Abdul Aziz Sadeq from Qatar, has been formed to assess the quality of the cartoons, said Al Sayed. Their presence in the judging panel will make the judgment impartial.
The entries in the contest included both published and unpublished ones. The only condition was that they should not have won any prize before, Al Sayed said in his speech.
He added that this prize is being offered for the first time in Qatar and that is why no subject was specified for the contest. The age of the participants ranges from 20 to 60. But Arab Spring dominates the subject, he said.
The result of the contest will be announced on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of Al Sharq on November 7.
The Peninsula
