Blessed is the gambler who lost everything he had, except for the desire to gamble once again.”
Abbas Naaseri / Silence is not justified. The selection of judges, the judging process, connections, names, lobbying, favoritism, interference from festival directors and officials, the influence of investors, and so on—these have turned participating in festivals into a gamble. A gamble where the odds of losing are much higher than winning.
We, as artists, have only one trump card—our cartoon. Meanwhile, they have laid out dozens of losing cards against us, and we have no control over them. These losing cards are relationships, biased judgments, and, the pre-determined winners etc.
Yes, participating in competitions and festivals these days feels more like gambling. Hoever, when I reviewed the results of the Green Crescent International Festival in Turkey, which focused on the theme of gambling, I realized that out of eleven winners, nine were from Turkey, and only two were foreign. That was the moment I understood—we had lost a gamble within a gamble. The festival on gambling itself turned out to be a losing bet. Perhaps its theme was a warning to us from the start: This is gambling, and you are meant to lose.
Not long ago, Satyrykon in Poland also selected most of its winners from Poland. And this has happened repeatedly in the past—international festivals distributed their awards nationally.
In gambling halls, everyone is a gambler, which means they all lose—there is no true winner. The only real winners are the casino owners, who profit from both wins and losses. The same story applies to some festivals. Cartoonists make these festivals thriving and prestigious, spending their credibility like a credit card at a casino, only to realize, in the end, that the real winner is the festival organizer.
From now on, we will announce the name of these festivals and organizers, so that casinos are distinguished from real festivals.
I have spoken about these issues before, and I will continue to speak out. But unfortunately, instead of solidarity from fellow artists, I mostly hear this warning: If you keep speaking out, festival organizers will be against you, and you’ll omitted in future competitions.
Sadly, even in this gamble, artists are unwilling to knock over the table. Instead, they fight to the last card—only to lose—while their protests remain limited to private whispers and some messages on social media.
As long as we accept losing, we will see nothing but losses ahead.
An old gambler said:
“Don’t sell out the one who sold you—just give him away for free.”
But here, no one has sold us out. We are selling ourselves with our silence.
I am a cartoonist. My art and my life are dedicated to producing cartoons. I will continue to gamble, even if I am excluded. But I will say my words.
As Gol Agha once said:
“I have a mouth and two loose teeth,
As long as I live, I will speak the truth.”
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Weekly Single Page of Cartoonmag
No 39
Saturday , 08. March. 2025
This single page has been prepared to remind the news and calls published on the cartoonmagazine website and it is supposed to be published every Saturday.
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