NEWS.. HABERLER… NACHRICHTEN…

The Friends of Nasreddin Hoca are in Istanbul

30 international caricature artists will be in Istanbul as invitees of The Association of Caricaturists for the activities of International Nasreddin Hoca Caricature Competition which will be held between 10-17 October. 

Worldwide known and prestigious International Nasreddin Hoca Caricature Competition is going to be organized 30th  times. The sponsor of the Competition is Koç Holding. 852 caricaturist from 58 different countries have presented their works of art the Grand Jury in order to take part in the Competition and to be put in the appearance on the same platform on which the world wide known caricaturists stands. The first International Nasreddin Hoca Competition was held between young caricaturists in 1973. Later, the Competition has gathered all the caricaturists of the world who have taken sides with peace in the world.  Since therefore the Competition has turned into an international forum. The activities of the associations were prohibited by the military regime in 1980’s and The Competition could not be maintained.
 
After 8 years of interruption International Nasreddin Hoca Caricature Competition reorganized. The caricaturist of the world once again came together for a peaceful and indulgent world. From its beginning till today 28.500 caricaturists have taken part and nearly 35.000 caricature competed in the International Nasreddin Hoca Caricature Competition that brought caricaturists from Turkey and from many countries of the world each year.

While open air workshops will be held by the estimable caricaturist guests of our Association of Caricaturists in the historical and touristic places of Ýstanbul, two panels, titled "21th Century and Caricature" and "The Contributions of International Nasreddin Hoca Caricature Competition at the World Caricature" will be held.

Our guests will meet with caricaturists who are members of our Association during the activities such as, Turhan Selçuk Exhibition, International Nasreddin Hoca Caricature Competition Exhibition and The Exhibition of Nasreddin Hoca Figures.

Toonpool.com Exhibition in Izmir

Great news, everyone: toonpool.com proudly presents "A Smile Goes ‘Round the World / Bir Gülümseme Dünyayý Dolaþýyor", an exhibition of cartoons by toonpool.com artists from all over the world. The exhibition will take place in Izmir, Turkey between October 15 and 29, 2010 (scroll down for more detailed information). This is an interview with charming Menekþe Çam who made all of this possible.

Menekþe, it’s so exciting that there will be a toonpool.com exhibition in Izmir. Can you tell me how this came into being?

In fact, my husband first brought up the idea of a joint exhibition when we visited Berlin in late January. I mentioned the idea in the interview I gave back then and got very positive responses. I really want to thank Bernd Pohlenz for trusting me with the organization of the first toonpool.com exhibition in the "real world".

Of course I also have to thank all the artists who agreed to join the exhibition and sent in their cartoons. Finally, there is the people at the BKM (Buca Municipality Cultural Center) who agreed to host the exhibition and gave us all the things we needed. Organizing this took a lot of time – more than three months. And it took a lot of hard work.

So, what is the general idea of the exhibition?

First of all, it’s a wonderful cultural event that puts the works from a great cartoon community on display for the first time. Second, the exhibition shows that this community can act together when necessary.

There is no profit in this event apart from spiritual pleasure and artistic prestige. Still, I hope that we can repeat this exhibition in other countries – after all, our slogan is "Toonpool.com – A Smile Goes ‘Round the World"

Buca Municipality Cultural Center

How many artists will be on display in Izmir?

It was really hard to choose between more than 80,000 artworks by almost 2,000 artists from 160 nations. In the end we had to settle for 58 cartoons by 58 artists from almost as many different countries. Among the artists on display are Matteo Bertelli from Italy, Pawel Kuczynski from Poland, An Yong Chen from China,  Ernst Mattiello from Switzerland, and Xavier Salvador from Spain..

What kind of cartoons did you choose for the exhibition?

Mostly they were chosen from among the most popular cartoons on toonpool.com – the ones with the greatest number of votes and comments. Some of them are political, some funny, and some thought-provoking. There will be a catalogue, too.

An Earlier Exhibition at BKM

Will some of the artists be present at the opening ceremony?

Yes, Buca Municipality will host ten artists in a hotel on the seaside – for two nights and three days. This includes accommodation, breakfast, and dinner. There are still some free spots.. artists who sent in their work and would like to spend a spend a weekend vacation in Izmir should just contact me.

Thanks for your time, I am really looking forward to seeing the photos taken at the grand opening!