The second national contest for cartoonists targets professionals and amateurs alike, said Abdullah Sayel, chairman of the Saudi Cartoon Society and a cartoonist himself.

Sayel explained that this year’s contest theme is “No To Corruption! Yes to Smiling!” and the deadline to submit cartoons is March 31. 

There are certain conditions for people to qualify in the contest, he added. Firstly, participants must be Saudi nationals and secondly, they can only submit three cartoons at the most. Thirdly, the cartoons must be relevant to the contest’s theme; in other words they must touch upon corruption in a funny, satirical manner. Fourthly, the submitted work must be original and genuinely reflect the cartoonist’s ideas. Lastly, the resolution of the cartoon must be in high definition and drawn sharply.

The resolution of the cartoon, Sayel specified, must be no less than 150 MB pixels per inch, and the drawings must be in JPEG format. Participants must fill the contest form in MS WORD format. 

He also revealed that all the submitted work will be archived and stored at the Ministry of Culture for future use in other events and exhibitions, even if the events feature themes not related to corruption. There will be a number of prizes awarded to winners, including SR 5000 for the first place winner in the category of professional cartoonists, SR 4,000 and SR 3,000 respectively for second and third place winners. Meanwhile, in the category of amateur participants, the first prize award will be SR 2,500; second place winners will receive SR 2,000, and SR 1,500 will be awarded for the third place. Participants will also be given certificates. 

Interested cartoonists can send their work to: [email protected]