CARTUNION 2007

The Second International Cartoon Contest - CARTUNION 2007
State and Religion
Where does one begin and the other end?
A century ago the French decided that question and separated legislatively these two important institutions. This decision became a universal standard and entered the constitutions of many nations. It was believed that the harmony was established and all the interested parties were satisfied. Unfortunately, in the constantly-changing world one or the other side tries to undermine that balance. We see how the ruling elites oppress the believers and disallow any sign of religious worship. Or vice-versa, the ruling group attempting to fill their own ideological vacuum begins to play with religion. There are nations where religious leaders seeking the highest reaches of political office forget about their flock.
The conflict between religious and secular parts of the community flares up often and Russian political scene is no exception to this tendency. The rising clout of Eastern Orthodoxy doesn’t limit itself to caring about worshipper’s souls, and the populist government does everything to encourage the influence of the church on the citizenry. In situations where non-commercial organizations lose their basic rights, the church is provided with various financial and political privileges. Things have gotten so bad that 10 Russian academics sent a letter to the President asking him to safeguard the secular character of the nation.
Wherever there is a conflict, a cartoonist will always find something to write about. We invite international cartoonists to tell us their thoughts on each of the questions discussed.
Contest rules and regulations
1. The theme of the contest is “State and Religion."
2. Everybody can participate in this contest. The number of entries is unlimited.
3. The best works will be exhibited at the CARTUNION site: http://www.cartoon-expo.com/ .
4. Two artists will be awarded with "The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker" (on CD and in print) that sells for $60.
5. Format: JPG or GIF. 100 dpi. The largest side of the image should be 650 pixels.
6. The works have to be sent to the following address: cartoongallery@gmail.com Please include your name, country, and e-mail address.
7. Deadline for submissions: November 1st 2007.
8. The competent jury will immediately consider all entries. The results will be announced on November 15th.
9. The authors of the selected works will be asked to send the high-resolution copies.
10. The organizers have the non-exclusive rights to use all the works to promote the exhibition (publications, fliers, etc), without payment to the artist.
11. All copyrights belong to the author.
12. Artists submitting cartoons will automatically agree to abide by the above rules.
The International Cartoonists' Forum CARTUNION.
Contact: Andrey Feldshteyn, cartoongallery@gmail.com