Facts & Figures
Arab Countries
15
Number of Submissions
370
Female Participation
42%
7th Mahmoud Kahil Award Winners
March 2022
Editorial Cartoons
Raafat Al Khatib | Jordan
Alkhatib is a political cartoonist and satirist from Jordan currently living in the US. His work experience spans over a decade of professional publishing on platforms like Al Jazeera, Al Hudood Network, and The Cartoon Movement. He is an active member in Cartooning for Peace. His work won both local and international awards, including but not limited to Turkey, Brazil, and Cuba. He is currently publishing his works on his social media outlets and website. His work addresses universal themes, with a focus on fighting racism, by adopting diverse points of view. His most recent work focuses on the war on Gaza.
Graphic Novels
Barrack Rima | Lebanon
Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, and living in Brussels, Barrack Rima is a comics artist and a film maker, and a member of Samandal comics association (Beirut). Some of her comics works : Cairo storyteller (in French, La Cafetière, 1998) ; Beirut trilogy (in French, Alifbata, 2017) ; In the taxi (in French, Alifbata, 2020) ; De Brusselmansen (in Dutch, weekly in Brussel Deze Week newspaper, 1998-2003); Sociologia (in Arabic, weekly in Al Akhbar newspaper, 2014-2015).
Comics
Mohamad Salah | Egypt
A Cairo-born and based comic book artist with a knack for social commentary and science-fiction. He graduated in 2005 from the faculty of fine arts, Helwan University. Salah has worked across a multitude of visual communication disciplines since 2002; starting out with comics and painting, and venturing into areas such as animation, editorial cartoons, illustration and advertising. His work was published in magazines and newspapers such as Samir, Toktok, Al-Masry Alyoum and Al-Shorouk, and exhibited in Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and France (Angoulême).
Graphic Illustration
Karen Keyrouz | Lebanon
Karen Keyrouz is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is a “va-et-vient” between drawing, comics and filming. She launched her first graphic Novel “Flux et Reflux” (2018) with the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, where she earned her master’s degree (2015). She also published several short comics such as “The 8th Sleeper” (Samandal-Experimentation, 2018) “Urine”(Lyon BD, France 2018), “Are You Still Reading the News” and “Have a Seat”(Zeez Collective, 2017). Karen exhibited her work in several international festivals: Angoulême International Comics Festival, Lyon BD, BD Amiens and Cairo Comix. She co-founded Zeez collective and is an active member of the acclaimed Samandal Comics, where she edits, writes and draws comics. In 2017, she organized with some friends the “drawing concert” in Beirut, where she developed a specific language in visual improvisation based on the “Pareidolia”.
Chilldren’s Book Illustration
Baraa Al Awoor | Palestine
Born and based in Gaza, Alawoor earned her bachelor degree in English teaching language in 2015. She worked as a freelancer on illustrating children’s books and outreach material. She has illustrated more than 25 books in countries such as Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Georgia, Switzerland, Jordan and others. In 2021, her work won the Etisalat Award for Children’s Literature for best illustrations.
Ali Mandalawi
Since his 1983 painting “Al-Sayyab,” which combined the simplicity of artistic elements with the richness of a modern poet’s world, Ali Al-Mandlawi has been a remarkable phenomenon in Iraqi cartoons, surpassing what we have known in the history of this art form, which for many years was dominated by the artist Ghazi Al-Baghdadi and the prominent names who followed him. This painting seemed far removed from all the children’s drawings that Al-Mandlawi excelled in.
Ali Al-Mandlawi was born in 1958 in the city of Mandali, rich in Kurdish cultural heritage. He joined the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1973. During his first year, he displayed a collection of cartoons about the nationalization of oil at the institute’s club. In his third year, he participated in an exhibition of political posters for the institute’s students, supervised and organized by the artist Rafi’ Al-Nasiri. The design combined photography and caricature, and addressed the assassination of Lebanese leader Kamal Jumblatt. This design was later used as a postage stamp by the Iraqi Postal Authority. His departure from the strict traditions of art education and his shift from the constants of academic drawing received the attention and encouragement of some of his direct professors at the Institute of Fine Arts, such as artists Muhammad Ali Shaker and Rafi’ al-Nasiri. It was clear that al-Mandlawi recalled from his childhood and adolescence the inspiration he received from children’s magazines such as Samir, Mickey, and Bisat al-Reeh, among others. This was the beginning of his interest in children’s art, which later bore fruit. While still a student at the Institute of Fine Arts, al-Mandlawi joined Majallati and al-Mizmar in 1975. This represented the first serious attempt to develop children’s culture, and artists known for their distinctive style and high artistic craftsmanship worked there, including Talib Makki, Bassam Faraj, Mu’ayyad Ni’mah, Mansour al-Bakri, Salah Jiyad, and Faisal Laibi. Amidst this group of creatives, Al-Mandlawi developed his artistic style, drawing on references from diverse artists. Perhaps the decorative features of the manuscript by Al-Wasiti, one of the most prominent 13th-century illuminators, and the convergence of its compositions linked to the text, set him apart from others. During his work at Dar Thaqafat al-Tifl (Children’s Culture House), he illustrated more than forty children’s publications, some of which are considered among the house’s most prominent. The success of the “Majallati” experience led to the establishment of Dar Thaqafat al-Tifl (Children’s Culture House), which enjoyed exceptional presence due to its direction, vitality, diverse output, and the freedom granted to its artists to realize their visions, reflected in its distinguished publications.
Skefkef Collective
“Skefkef” is a popular sandwich among the working class of Casablanca. Its bad smell undermines its delicious taste (also called “khanz w banin” that literally translates to “stinky and delicious”). It is also the name of a Casablancan comics Franzine, organized by “Rousoum” and produced in partnership with the “Casablanca Lozein” cultural center.
“Skefkef” aims to encourage the production of comics, and to promote their accessibility across the Maghreb. In June 2013, Salah Malawli gathered a group of Maghrebin artists, including Mahdi el Anasi (from the Brain Oil Factory collective), Mohamad el Balawi (Rebel Spirits), and Husni Mokhales (poet and playwright). Later on, other artists joined and contributed to this initiative, most notably Ayoub Abid, Salaheddin Basti, and Mohamad Rahmo.
“Skefkef” invites writers, producers and talented artists to two yearly meetings, in order to think on a specific topic and develop it into a mixture of writings, explanations, and comics, to be published in Arabic in a seventy page-long magazine. Each issue features an artist from the Middle East and North Africa, in order to promote dialogue and communication among artists of the region. The magazine also aims to link comics to music. For each issue, musicians and bands are invited to compose a piece, relating to the main topic of the issue, to be published on the back cover in the form of a QR code, allowing readers to listen to the piece by scanning it. “Skefkef” acts as a window and a laboratory that aims to instill the professional character on comics in the Maghreb. It is linked to other similar initiatives across the Middle East, and strives towards a long-term creative vision.
In order to enrich the Maghrebi comics scene, the “Rousoum” organization produced the “Golojam Zein” magazine. Young artists are challenged to secretly produce an illustrated magazine on a specific topic by commissioning the drawing of twelve pages – a cover, and an eleven page-long comic – during 24 hours. Since this initiative is founded on healthy competition, participation is open to students, teachers, amateurs and professional artists, in Casablanca and other places. Participation itself becomes an act of creation.
7th Mahmoud Kahil Award 2022 Finalists
Editorial Cartoon
- Bernard Haje | Lebanon
Graphic Novel
- HONORARY MENTION Deena Mohamed | Egypt
- Where to Marie | Lebanon
Comics
- Lena Merhej | Lebanon
- Farid Nagy Nasry | Egypt
Graphic Illustration
- Aliaa Abou Khaddour | Syria
- Sarah Saroufim | Lebanon
Children’s Book Illustration
- Hanane Kai | Lebanon
- Omar Lafi | Jordan
Meet the Jury
comicartfestival.com
@nohahabaeib
@twinscartoon
@twinscartoon
@georgekhouryjad
7th Annual Mahmoud Kahil Award Book
Available Now!