The jury of the 17th Euro-Kartoenale Kruishoutem 2009 'SAND, PEBBLE AND GRAVEL'
André NOLLET, voorzitter
André Nollet has for many years been the president of the jury of the Euro-Kartoenale, a task which he accomplishes will the required common sense.
He draws cartoons for 40 years. Till 1999 he was the sports cartoonist of the newspaper "Het Nieuwsblad" and now he is presenting a humoristic approach of the actuality in "Het Laatste Nieuws" (the edition of Ghent). He is also the spiritual father of "Oscar Palmkens" and the successor of the regretted cartoonist Brasser in the weekly “'t Pallieterke". He also has a column in ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’.
In 2008 he had a big exposition ‘André Nollet – 40 years cartoons’ in his native city Wervik, and an exposition in Ghent ’10 years press cartoons’.
He describes himself as:
- Lazy: am almost always late in delivering my cartoons
- Considerate: always try to deliver my cartoons on time
- Nice: make only fun of people I love (politicians, cyclists, footballers, women ...).
For André, a cartoon has to be a deep one or to the point.
Luc VERNIMMEN
After studying free graphics, Luc Vernimmen began working as a graphic designer and illustrator. Although he still regularly creates etchings and oil paintings, he focuses more and more on book illustrations and cartoons.
As a cartoonist he won many national and international prizes, including Golagha (Tehran), Satyrykon (Poland), Grafikatur (Germany), Haifa, Porto, Zagreb, Olen, Boechout...
He won the 2nd prize in the Euro-Kartoenale 2007 with the theme "Locks and Keys", and is therefore invited to come and see the competition on the other side.
As a member of the jury he will mainly focus on the combination of humorous and graphic qualities in a cartoon.
Tom ADRIAENSEN
Tom is the organizer of the George van Raemdonckkartoenale of Boechout. With a degree in product design he currently works as a graphic designer.
He describes himself as someone with an open mind, a friendly man, but also with firmness.
As the youngest member of the jury, he will mainly look at the line of approach of the cartoonist, the originality is of course very important, as the artistic elaboration.
Branko NAJHOLD
Branko Najhold was born in 1947 in Zemun in Serbia. He is the founder and organizer of the "Zemun Salon of Caricature," one of the largest cartoon festivals in the world. He has written 40 books and hundreds of articles in various newspapers and magazines on history (of cartoons) and cultural events in Zemun, plus a few novellas. He is also the publisher of the cartoon magazine "Kart". He was a jury member for several cartoon contests in Serbia (Belgrade, Krusevac, Leskovac) and abroad (Legnica, Gabrovo, Lviv, Urziceni, Athens, Surgut).
He also gave lectures on cartoons in Belgrade and abroad (Salerno, Oerlinghausen...) and participated in many international cartoon festivals (Saint Just le Martel, Ayr, Gabrovo, Ploiesti, Salerno). He received in 2001 the Prize of Culture of Zemun and in 2006 a special FECO Award.
Words that are applicable to him: knowledge and hard worker and serious.
For Branko a cartoon should be the ideal combination between a good idea and a beautiful work of art. One can not without the other.
He wished every success to the organizers of the Euro-Kartoenale of Kruishoutem, which according to him is one of the few serious cartoon competitions. "If I was a cartoonist, I would only participate in some serious contests (while there are hundreds throughout the world) and Kruishoutem is one of them.
KT Haes (Herman Somers)
After a training in painting and drawing Herman began to work with silk-screen printing and etching. To put those "serious" disciplines into perspective he started drawing cartoons, initially with success, until he started to become more interested in the cartoonists themselves. Result: different organizations and publications about cartoons and cartoonists. Currently he is the editor of the cartoon magazine "Scherper”.
Herman summarized in three key words:
- Limited: the older I get, while having more and more experience, the more I realize that I am limited in my skills and knowledge.
- Versatile: fits perfectly with the previous term, I am limited versatile, and I know and can do many things to a limited extent.
- Ambitious: a character trait that I did not suspected yet. Very recently I came to the conclusion that I like to take charge in a discreet way.
"Through my training and my own view, I focus quite heavily on the pictorial and graphic appearance, sometimes at the expense of the idea or the humor of the cartoon. I will try to find a healthy balance between image and message. "
Bernard BOUTON
Bernard Bouton is a French cartoonist and collector of cartoons. He had several personal exhibitions in a.o. Moeskroen (Belgium), Olsztyn (Poland), Osijek (Croatia). He won prizes in Ottawa (3rd prize in 2005), Tehran (2nd prize in 2006) and Haifa (2nd prize in 2008).
Bernard summarized in three key words: big, blonde and funny.
For Bernard, the originality is very important in a cartoon, because in many cartoons you have the feeling that you have seen them before (not to speak of plagiarism, which is another problem). At the same time, the technique must be also sufficiently good, and the cartoon has to be understood immediately.
"I like to be a jury member because:
- I can meet old friends and discover new ones,
- I see new cartoons and new ways to express a thought,
- I can exchange different views on graphic humor and appreciate the sense of humor of others", dixit Bouton.
Josette CHAMPT
Josette has a degree in Germanic languages and was for many years a professor of Dutch and English. Since 2001 she is director of the Maison du Tourisme, which represents 5 municipalities: Chaumont-Gistoux, Grez-Doiceau, Rixensart, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and Wavre. She is the organizer of the 'Rencontres internationales du dessin de presse en Brabant Wallon’. In this context she organized many exhibitions, like "Celles que vous n'avez jamais vues, les caricatures refusees", "La caricature, c'est du sport", "Sondron ... et les autres font leur cinema", "Sextrémismes" and "JO, jeux et enjeux".
"To describe oneself is often difficult, if not impossible and not always accurate. The "real" knowledge of oneself is rare." Josette said. "If I had to say which 3 words characterize me, probably I would choose the words: respect, passion and work."
Respect is an element that must be continuously present in the assessment of art. I am not a painter or musician, but I look at art as a form of communication. A work touches me and induces a reaction. And when I see a work, I refuse to say "it is valid or good" but I think it affects me and in this sense, I appreciate it. A bit like a wine that should not necessarily be a great vintage, but that I taste and I appreciate.
In a jury various factors should be taken into account: the 'purity' or the relevance of the message, the match between the message and the produced work, respecting the rules, the evaluation of the impact of the cartoon on the public and therefore the communication power of the drawing, the analysis of selected graphic elements and the difficulty of the used technique.
Bob Vincke
The cartoonist Bob Vincke began his career as a teacher of fine arts.
In 1980 he founded the Belgian cartoonist association KEVER and two years later, together with Peter Nieuwendijk, he set up FECO, the Federation of Cartoonists Organizations Worldwide. He was a jury member in several cartoon contests in Belgium and abroad (the cartoon festival in the Netherlands, Moscow, Knokke, Riga, Amsterdam, Bulgaria, Skopje, Romania, Argentina, Italy ...). In 1981 he was also one of the founders of the cartoonale of Beringen. He won countless awards and honorary mentions in Belgium and abroad (Kruishoutem, Knokke, Beringen, Moscow, Skopje, Bordighera ...) and he was selected for several catalogs.
Currently he works as a quick-draw artist and caricaturist at parties, openings, for television... In addition, he still draws for some journals (Basis, Caleidoscoop...) and illustrates various publications.
Three words that characterize Bob: drive (try to offer quality in a creative way, but do not stop learning from your failures), sporty (both in the literal physical sense, as approaching people with tact and humor without hurting), and justice (remains a target).
During the jury Bob will focus on the balance between the subject, the composition, the message and the humor. The focus should be on the pithy nature.
Carlos BEKAERT
Carlos is a kind of outsider in the jury. He is a psychologist with great interest in cartoons. For years he has been member of the jury of the Euro-Kartoenale. His contribution can in this way be considered as an obvious surplus value.
According to Carlos, a cartoon has to affect, to be amusing and evoke a large smile, sometimes a little grin. To grab a prize, the drawing has to be original and exceed the medium.
The jury is open for everything, the personal preferences and vision of the world don't pass beyond the door of the jury room. The winning cartoon is often the one with the most divergences of opinions. A judging is free from mental or visual-artistic limits.
Three headwords Carlos is using to define himself: grandfather, humor and eager to learn.
Ludo GODERIS
Ludo is the house cartoonist of the ECC for the year 2009. He was born in 1961 at Zeebrugge and since 12 years he lives with his wife and four children in Bruges.
He inherited his talent for drawing from his father, and apparently he also passed it on to his 3 sons and daughter. "No topic is so boring that there is no humor in it - on the contrary: the drier the matter, the more chance there is a hilarious side to" said Ludo. No wonder that as auto-didact he became a respected cartoonist.
Ludo is since 30 years active as cartoonist and illustrator and won more than 65 national and international prizes. He drew political cartoons for the newspaper 'De Standaard' and worked for the Belgian Television, Columbia Pictures, InBev, Ecover, Nestle, LANNOO, ECOVER, NCMV, CBR, Voca, SECUREX ... He had personal exhibitions a.o. in Osaka and Porto.
He describes himself as strong, beautiful and smart, just because it sounds good. In the jury he will take into account a strong dose of humor.
René DESAEVER
René Desaever is Commercial Director of the NHM-Group DC, the main sponsor of the 17th edition of the Euro-Kartoenale 'SAND, PEBBLE AND GRAVEL'.
He is interested in cartoons because they are a universal language. The company's activities are being taken very seriously, a light and humorous approach to this activities helps to put things in perspective.
The original approach of the theme will be one of the concerns of Mr Desaever.
