The Big Boat of Humour - contest / Lodz - PolandIn Polish, the word ŁÓDŹ means a vehicle propelled by sails, oars or engine, used as a means of water transport. Almost all around the world, it carries symbolic connotations:
- it is an allegory of human fate in both individual and collective dimension,
- it is associated with courage, when imagining sailors embarking on a voyage across rough oceans,
- it symbolizes human longing for adventure and some change in life.
Łódź is also the name of the second largest city in Poland which is an inland city with no access to navigable waters. We hope that the name of our metropolis will become an inspiration for graphic artists, especially those with a flair for satire. The theme should be taken up with humour, with panache and perhaps with a bit of poetry…
This explanation, indispensable to foreigners, is also aimed at the Poles, for whom the popular usage of the name of the city might have blurred the sharpness of its paradox.
For the third time, "The Big Boat Of Humour" would like to invite all cartoonists to plunge into the boat theme. The boat out of which we hook again for witty ideas, funny punch lines and all this ideas useful for Łódź citizens, to net the best life chances.
Ladies and Gentlemen, set off for the big sailing.
Top above: Frackiewicz (Grand Prix 2007)
See below: Kuczynski (Grand Prix 2006)
REGULATIONS
1. The aim of the contest is:
- creating an art gallery comprising works that could be used in actions promoting the city in a printed form or in the form of organized exhibitions.
- promoting the city, changing the traditional perception of Łódź and challenging the stereotypical image of the city.
2. It is an open contest. Everyone can participate in it, on condition that they submit their works with the application form before the regulatory deadline. The contest is an international event.
3. The theme of the third edition of The BIG BOAT of HUMOUR contest is: “Boat fishing”
- capturing the paradoxical relationship between the name of our city and its inland location away from navigable waters, enriched with an interpretation of voyage, exploration and pioneering motif, characteristic of sailors.
4. The original works entered in the contest can be made using any drawing, graphic (including computer graphics) or painting technique and should not be larger than A3 format (297x420 mm). Accepted by the Jury as original graphic works are the copies of author’s edition described and signed by the author.
Photocopies and xerox copies of the works, computer printouts of scanned works or any other kind of duplication using multicopy techniques, for example offset printing, which serve as reproductions of a work, shall not be accepted by the Jury.
Previously published works, works entered in other contests or works to which rights do not belong to the authors shall also be excluded from the contest.
5. Each participant may submit up to 5 works. The works should be unframed, provided with the name and the surname of the author and possibly the title on the reverse. The works should be accompanied with an application form, which shall be tantamount to the acceptation of the contest regulations and a permission for publishing author’s personal data contained in the form, and with a CD with the electronic form of submitted works (in TIFF format, the resolution of 300 dpi, 15 cm at the base), which is the condition of placing them in the catalogue.
6. The works should be sent to the address of Łódzki Dom Kultury (Łódź Cultural Centre), ul. Traugutta 18, 90-113 Łódź, Poland till 30 April 2008 (with a note on an envelope “Big Boat of Humour 2008”).
7. The organizers are not liable for any damage to the works during delivery. The works shall be insured since the moment they are received by the organizers, during the exhibition and until their return to the authors.
8. The Jury shall choose works for the post-contest exhibition and hand out the Grand Prix of the contest on 5 May 2008.
9. The ceremonial opening of the post-contest exhibition and the verdict announcement shall take place on May 2008.
10. The authors of works admitted to the contest shall be invited to the ceremonial opening of the exhibition and shall receive the catalogue. The organizers do not provide the return of expenses covering transport to Łódź and stay in the city. The organizers anticipate the exhibition of the original works admitted to the contest in the building of Łódzki Dom Kultury (Łódź Cultural Centre) and the exhibition of printouts (on the basis of the submitted CDs) in Piotrkowska Street in the centre of the city.
11. The works that shall not be admitted to the contest as well as the works shown on the exhibition should be taken back from the organizers till 30 June 2008 or they shall be sent back to the authors.
AWARDS
1. The works shall be judged by the Jury of the Contest consisting of professional artists, the representatives of the City of Łódź Office and the Organizers of the contest.
2. The Jury shall hand out the regulatory Grand Prix of the contest amounting to PLN 10,000, funded by the Mayor of the City of Łódź. The prize is indivisible. The Jury reserves the right to resign from handing out the award. In such case, the amount is added to the pool of prizes of the next edition of the contest. The decisions of the Jury are definitive without the right to appeal. The work (or works of one author) honoured with the prize, together with all the rights, become the property of the sponsor.
3. The organizers allow for a possibility of handing out sponsored awards other than the regulatory prize. Works awarded by the sponsors, with all the rights, shall become the property of the sponsors.
FINAL PROVISIONS
1. Sending works to the contest together with a filled in application form equals giving consent to:
- participation in the post-contest exhibition (or a series of exhibitions), unpaid reproducing the works in all media and all techniques as far as promoting the City, the Contest and the exhibition is concerned.
- duplicating the works for the needs of non-commercial promotional actions carried out by the organizers (occasional publications, press materials and the Internet), at the same time, promoting the authors and their works.
- using the works in charity actions, carried out for the citizens in need by the Organizers during the period of one year starting from the date of the post-contest exhibition opening.
2. Participation in the contest means the acceptation of the above regulations.
E-mail: festiwal@ldk.lodz.pl
Yuri Ochakovsky passed away
Yuri Ochakovsky was a great cartoonist who depicted the situation of mankind in modern times perfectly. I am deeply grieved to hear his decease. With my condolences to the family and the cartoon world. 
The following info from a message by Andrey Feldshteyn is forwarded by Julian Pena-Pai: 
402 cartoonists participated with 651 cartoons. The Jury comprised of Marlene Pohle (Germany) , Vladimir Kazanevsky (Ukraine) , Rasit Yakali , Eray Ozbek, Cem Koc, and Recep Kafes decided to award the prizes to the following artists: 
First Prize: Sherif Arafa - Egypt (See above)
Second Prize: Junior Lopes Cunha - Brazil (See above)
Special Prize of the Jury: Askin Ayrancioglu - Turkey (See above)
Musa Gumus - Turkey
Zygmunt Figura - Poland
Oguz Gurel - Turkey
Rahim Baqqal Asghari - Iran (See above)
A) Olympic section -Winning Prize - Jin Hui (China) (See above) 
B) Free section - Winning Prize - Askin Ayrancioglu (Turkey) (See above) 
D) Special prize of Jury - Leng Mu (China) (See above) 
Honourable Prize - Dalcio Machado (Brazil) (See above) 