Sunday, May 25, 2014
2ND “CARTOON AFRICA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL” (CAIB) FESTIVAL 2014
RELOADED:
International
Press Release; January, 2014:
THE
INITIAL CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR THE 2ND “CARTOON AFRICA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL”
(CAIB) FESTIVAL 2014
CAIB 2014 THEME/BACKGROUND INFORMATION: While professionally showcasing, promoting and
rewarding excellence in the cartoon and comic Art industry across Africa and
globally, the CAIB collaborative agenda seeks to
explore how Art and multimedia innovations, in synergy with other allied fields
of endeavour, can provide Answer to a wide variety of issues and concerns in favour of Africa’s sustainable development and productivity
within the framework of human dignity,
equality, peace and godliness, in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and the New
Partnership for African Development (NEPAD),and in the context of the UNESCO
Social and Human Sciences Sector’s (SHS) call for innovative ideas in favour of
Africa’s development within the new decade.
RATIONALE: The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is not
far-fetched: “One
image can communicate more than dozens of pages of text or hours of speeches.
One image can change the course of history. Editorial cartoons draw attention
to important political, economic, and social issues like nothing else. Using
symbols or visual metaphors, their reach transcends country borders and
language barrier”. We are deploying Art and visual journalism in the context of press
cartooning, cartoon animations,
comics/graphic humour, etc, as a creative education, awareness spreading and
public enlightenment strategy to draw attention, promote fiscal development and
human dignity, to celebrate excellence, drive productivity, equity, moral
capital development and innovative cross cultural resources development and
exchanges across Africa in a global context.
The
2014 edition of CARTOON AFRICA
INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL (CAIB) festival will hold in the last quarter of
2014. African illustrators, press cartoonists, cartoon animators, etc, and
their colleagues around the globe will once again gather in Nigeria, in 2014,
through their comedic art, creative education and visual journalism works - Caricatures, editorial
cartoons, comic strips, cartoon animations, photo cartoons, etc - to lend a strong voice to
the theme above, addressing Africa’s development needs and challenges in a
global context.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
The festival is open to
all professional artists, amateurs/students and children of all grades and
types of schools regardless of their age from all over the world. Three major
categories of participants are, however, identified for CAIB2014: PROFESSIONAL;
AMATEUR/STUDENT; and CHILDREN. The central theme of the second edition of the CAIB festival is: “AFRICA
OF THE FUTURE”.
The TOPICS being investigated and interpreted
include:
(1) “Stop Violence Against
Women” (Selected entries on this topic will automatically
qualify for inclusion in the CAIB-MEWOR Comic book series plus short animated
videos to be produced and distributed regionally to draw attention and spread
awareness of the “PROTOCOL TO THE
AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA”.
You may download the document from our website to guide you).
(2) “Our Children, Our Future; Their Safety,
Our Responsibility.”
(3) “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The God Factor In
Achieving Success.”
(4) “My Fears
for Africa” *(Strictly for Non- African participants only).
(5a) “The WATER
and ENVIRONMENT challenge”
(5b) “Tribute to
Nelson Mandela” (Caricatures, editorial cartoons, comic strip, animation, photo
cartoon, etc)
(6) Free. (Here, you are at liberty to work on
any topic(s) of your choice, but they should be within the thematic framework
of CAIB festival2014)
*(7)
Introducing: the first “BFI LIFEGATE COMICS &
MULTIMEDIA PRIZE”, a prestigious creative award for the best youth
graphic literature, comic book, photo story, or short cartoon animated video,
multimedia, new media short story, documentary,
jingle or documentary on any
topic(s) addressing one or more of the
issues below and primarily targeting African youths: NEW CREATION REALITIES; MORAL
CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT; THE CHURCH AND POVERTY IN SOCIETY; IDENTITY CRISIS IN A PLURAL SOCIETY AND
GLOBALISED WORLD; TOMORROW’S YOUTH AND
THE SOCIAL MEDIA; Water, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) CREATIVE EDUCATION FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN/YOUTHS; YOUTH SEXUALITY
EDUCATION; YOUTH AND PEACE BUILDING; ETC.
NOTE:
Authors/artists can come up with their own ideas and topics as individual
participants or as a team, but they must address youth moral capital
development in the context of social and spiritual culture. Details of the
BFI’s new awards programme are available on the organization’s website: www.bfiministry.org/media/
TERMS & CONDITIONS:
1.
Participation in the CAIB festival is
FREE.
2.
Female African artists, press
cartoonists, etc, are highly encouraged to participate, as there will be special media opportunities and creative offers
awaiting successful African female
participants.
3. Apart from TOPIC (4) reserved only for Non-African participants, there is no restriction to topics that participants can enter for the festival/contest, no limit to the number of works to be entered and there is no restriction on style or medium of expression of works sent in.
4. Cartoons, comics, caricatures, photo cartoons, cartoon strips, new media, etc, can be sent in as coloured or black and white, in A4 or A3 paper sizes only, (without frames) in a protective pack, irrespective of whether they have been published before or have won any prizes in any previous events. It is advisable to send your entries via INSURED or REGISTERED mail, as the organizers will not be liable for mails lost in transit. The organizers will ensure the protection of works in our custody. However, we shall not be responsible for badly packaged entries or entries damaged before and after the festival/exhibition. Video/Cartoon Animation entries MUST not exceed 5 minutes in length that could be broadcast in compressed format and realizable in the most common formats: AVI, MPEG Real Video for Windows, etc.).
3. Apart from TOPIC (4) reserved only for Non-African participants, there is no restriction to topics that participants can enter for the festival/contest, no limit to the number of works to be entered and there is no restriction on style or medium of expression of works sent in.
4. Cartoons, comics, caricatures, photo cartoons, cartoon strips, new media, etc, can be sent in as coloured or black and white, in A4 or A3 paper sizes only, (without frames) in a protective pack, irrespective of whether they have been published before or have won any prizes in any previous events. It is advisable to send your entries via INSURED or REGISTERED mail, as the organizers will not be liable for mails lost in transit. The organizers will ensure the protection of works in our custody. However, we shall not be responsible for badly packaged entries or entries damaged before and after the festival/exhibition. Video/Cartoon Animation entries MUST not exceed 5 minutes in length that could be broadcast in compressed format and realizable in the most common formats: AVI, MPEG Real Video for Windows, etc.).
5.
Original artworks are preferable for the CAIB festival. However, high quality
computer print-outs are also acceptable. No
photocopies please! Digitally-generated works must be duly signed by the
artists to be accepted in this festival/contest as original. Entries that do
not measure up to standard for the cartoon/comics biennial festival/ contest
will be discarded. The organizers reserve the right to withdraw the established
prizes and certificates if the entries fail to meet the required standard and
focus of the festival.
6. FORM: Participants MUST fill and submit the participation form to be eligible for the festival/contest. The form can be downloaded from our websites: www.cartoonafricabiennial.org, www.africanartscenter.com Works submitted without fully-completed participation forms will be rejected. On a word document or separate enclosed sheet of paper please provide a short CV of the author, titles of artworks submitted and the polemic meanings/ messages they convey.
7. ORIGINALITY: Works sent in for the festival MUST be the original creations of the artists themselves. Plagiarism is forbidden in the CAIB festival/contest; so it is instructively vital that authors be fully responsible for the originality of their entries to the biennial festival. The organizers will withdraw any prize/award, if after the events it was reported and proven of any copyright infringement anywhere in the world, and legal actions may be instituted against offenders accordingly.
6. FORM: Participants MUST fill and submit the participation form to be eligible for the festival/contest. The form can be downloaded from our websites: www.cartoonafricabiennial.org, www.africanartscenter.com Works submitted without fully-completed participation forms will be rejected. On a word document or separate enclosed sheet of paper please provide a short CV of the author, titles of artworks submitted and the polemic meanings/ messages they convey.
7. ORIGINALITY: Works sent in for the festival MUST be the original creations of the artists themselves. Plagiarism is forbidden in the CAIB festival/contest; so it is instructively vital that authors be fully responsible for the originality of their entries to the biennial festival. The organizers will withdraw any prize/award, if after the events it was reported and proven of any copyright infringement anywhere in the world, and legal actions may be instituted against offenders accordingly.
8. DEADLINE: Entries will be accepted from
January 1, 2014 until midnight, October 1, 2014. Entries received after the
deadline will only be accepted if they bear a postmark prior to October 1,
2014.
9. JUDGES: A steep panel of experts drawn from the Art community, the mass media, cartoonists, art critics, school art teachers, art curators, etc, in Nigeria, parts of Africa, and abroad, will select the qualified works for the contest and subsequent touring exhibitions according to their merits, effectiveness in communicating vital messages within the CAIB project’s thematic framework. The decision of the judges will be final. Selected works, whether or not they won prizes in the festival/contest, will be put into a colourful coffee table book/CATALOGUE, and all participants whose works are included in the catalogue will receive a free copy each, whenever they are produced. So, please carefully print your valid postal address and other contact information in the participation form.
9. JUDGES: A steep panel of experts drawn from the Art community, the mass media, cartoonists, art critics, school art teachers, art curators, etc, in Nigeria, parts of Africa, and abroad, will select the qualified works for the contest and subsequent touring exhibitions according to their merits, effectiveness in communicating vital messages within the CAIB project’s thematic framework. The decision of the judges will be final. Selected works, whether or not they won prizes in the festival/contest, will be put into a colourful coffee table book/CATALOGUE, and all participants whose works are included in the catalogue will receive a free copy each, whenever they are produced. So, please carefully print your valid postal address and other contact information in the participation form.
10. EXHIBITION OPENING/AWARD
PRESENTATIONS: The official opening of the CAIB2014 festival
exhibition and prize presentations to winners will take place on November 7,
2014 tentatively at a venue to be decided on later. The 2014 CAIB
festival/exhibition (and its supporting events) may run till May, 2015, via post-event traveling
exhibitions/ cartoon workshops, fundraising art auctions, merchandise sales,
etc.(Read more on supporting events at the bottom of this press release)
11. PRIZES: Winners will be awarded according to categories, namely:
Best entry in each Category: N20, 000 + Certificate + Catalogue + 1 year media contract, courtesy
of the CAIB organizers and some of their local, regional and international
media collaborators and other sponsors. Second
Best entry in each Category: N10, 000 + Certificate + Catalogue + 6 months
media contract, courtesy of the CAIB organizers and some of their local,
regional and international media collaborators and other sponsors. Third Best entry in each category: N5,
000 + Certificate + Catalogue + 3 months media contract, courtesy of the CAIB
organizers and some of their local, regional and international media
collaborators and other sponsors. There will be HONOURABLE MENTION, certificates, catalogues and a one- off media contract
for some participants tipped by the jury. Depending on increased funding/sponsorships,
in CASH, for the CAIB festivals, prizes may be reviewed upward across board
during the CAIB festival period under review.
*
There shall also be special awards by some collaborating organizations like the
Beautiful Feet International (BFI), corporate bodies and individuals and the
general viewing public, such as the Best-In-Show Public Award also known as “B.I.S.A. award” for the most
educative and intellectually engaging of all the works exhibited or shown on
screen during the 2014 CAIB festival exhibitions. This will be determined by
public votes by visitors to the CAIB festival, cartoon workshops/interactive
sessions as well as open air public interactive showcase of some reproductions
of some selected works at strategic city centers. The new
“BFI LIFEGATE COMICS & MULTIMEDIA PRIZE” is a special award courtesy of the
BFI Art and Media center, co-sponsors of the CAIB festival.
12.
SALES, RETURN/ DONATION OF WORKS: If
you wish to sell your submitted original works during the CAIB festival, please
clearly indicate same in the participation form, along with the intended price
in US dollars. Original art works submitted for the festival/contest will be
returned back only if the author so indicated in the participation form, and at
the author’s postal expense through courier services. Or they can be donated to
the organizers for future promotional, educational and other non-commercial
uses.
NOTE: Prize winning works and all entries sent via emails or posted as computer print-outs will
not be returned but automatically become properties of the organizers and shall
be permanently preserved in the new CAIB
Cartoon and Comics Museum set up in Benin City, Nigeria, after the pilot
CAIB event in 2012.
All participants and authors of works submitted
to CAIB oblige the organizers the full right to use, to archive, to print, to
publish or broadcast their work(s) in all CAIB promotional and educational
means, and to let them feature in any exhibitions, etc- without any financial
liability to the authors/artists. The signing and submission of completed
participation form and your works is proof of your acceptance of the terms and
conditions stipulated for participation in the CARTOON AFRICA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL festival 2014. Thank you for
your cooperation! Log on to our website: www.cartoonafricabiennial.org, to download Participation
Form.
13. ADDRESS: All entries for the CAIB festival should be mailed to:
THE CURATOR,
CARTOON AFRICA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL (CAIB),
C/O FRANCODUS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS (FIC),
PO BOX 14922, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE, NIGERIA.
Or by Emails to: contest@cartoonafricabiennial.org, and copy: africanpresscartoon@gmail.com
13. ADDRESS: All entries for the CAIB festival should be mailed to:
THE CURATOR,
CARTOON AFRICA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL (CAIB),
C/O FRANCODUS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS (FIC),
PO BOX 14922, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE, NIGERIA.
Or by Emails to: contest@cartoonafricabiennial.org, and copy: africanpresscartoon@gmail.com
Tel:
+2348023680030
SUPPORTING EVENTS: More
supporting events will be featuring during the CAIB2014 festival to add verve
to the biennial event and will take place in Benin City and Lagos side by side.
These include pre-festival Schools Cartoon Art
Challenge/workshops/exhibitions for primary, secondary and tertiary
schools in selected Nigerian/African cities and towns; visual journalism
training workshops for African women journalists and mass communicators, etc; the
first planning meeting of African Christian Cartoonists and Comic Artists; fundraising
art exhibition by selected African and foreign artists; CAIB webshop
launch/merchandise sales; distribution of free comics and educational audio
visuals; CCAS-Afrik inaugural conference/workshop; short cartoon animated film shows; official launch of CAIB
International Cartoon Museum; open air public interactive showcase of some reproductions of some
selected works at strategic city centers. etc.
Artists, cultural creatives, writers, publishers,
the media, design and promo-serve companies, advertisers,
fashion/textile industries, architectural practitioners, manufacturers, NGOs,
government agencies, etc, whose businesses and or services integrate artistic illustrations, cartoons
and comedic art, as well as other related businesses and institutions anywhere
in the world- who wish to take advantage of the CAIB platform to collaborate
and cooperate with us to promote/ sell their ideas, goods and or services as
partners in every edition of the CAIB festivals -are very welcome. Please
contact the central organizing committee for our mutually benefitting terms and
conditions. Send enquiries to: africanpresscartoon@gmail.com,
fic_55@yahoo.com or call the curator, Francis Umendu Odupute: +2348023680030.
