Tom Janssen wins the ECA 2021
Dutch cartoonist Tom Janssen is the winner of the second edition of the European Cartoon Award
The European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht, founders of the second edition of the European Cartoon Award, are glad to announce the name of the winner and runners-up of this year’s edition of the ECA. With his work “EU and Belarus” published in the newspaper Trouw, the Dutch cartoonist Tom Janssen won the first prize. The two runners-up are another Dutch cartoonist, Hajo de Reijger, and the Turkish artist Musa Gumus – both published by the international media outlet Cartoon Movement.
See the 16 nominated cartoons
on europeancartoonaward.com
The works of the winner and runners-up were selected from almost 300 submissions, coming from 28 countries, European and beyond, by a jury composed of award-winning cartoonists, previous year’s nominees, activists, and experts.
Janet Anderson, chair of the Panel of judges:
“Editorial Cartoonists have shown us again how they make powerful political commentaries with their drawings. 2020 was the year of the pandemic in Europe, and our shortlist selection and our prize-winner inevitably reflect much of the worldwide economic, social and political debates. But in our other top choices, we wanted as a jury to also reflect on the huge political story taking place in Belarus, and the political reality of how Europe engages with what is just over its borders, and to highlight the importance of the freedom of the media and the violent threats the press faces.”
The jury of the European Cartoon award 2021 was composed of: Anne Derenne (2020 winner), Janet Anderson, Khalid Albahi, Gian-Paolo Accardo, Paulo Jorge Fernandes. And, for the first round of selection, a jury composed of five previous year’s nominees: Mette Dreyer, Claudio Antonio Gomes, Costel Patrascan, Halit Kurtulmuş, and Tomás Serrano.
Sixteen nominated cartoons
After 2 rounds of evaluation, the two juries identified a batch of 16 cartoons that qualified for the final selection. Here is the list of the 14 nominees the cartoons belong to:
Vitor Neves – Portugal
Vasco Gargalo – Portugal
André Carrilho – Portugal
Pedro Silva – Portugal
Niels Bo Bojesen – Denmark
Musa Gumus – Tukey
Marco De Angelis – Italy
Hajo de Reijger – Netherlands
Tom Janssen – Netherlands
Tjeerd Royaards – Netherlands
Saeed Sadeghi – Turkey
DINO – Konstantinos Tsanakas – Greece
Osama Hajjaj – Jordan
Tchavdar Nikolov – Bulgaria
About the European Cartoon Award
The European Cartoon Award was founded in 2019 by European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht to encourage cartoonists in their essential work for freedom of expression. “Cartoonists are an ‘endangered species’: they have to deal with increasing resistance, censorship, and even threats and violence. Their space is shrinking, both in available publications and in the themes they can tackle. That is not only happening far away but also right here in Europe,” says director of the European Press Prize Thomas van Neerbos
The European Cartoon Award 2021 nominees
The European Cartoon Award announces the nominees for its 2021 edition. 16 works were selected by the Panel of judges and the Laureates jury from a total of 287 submissions, sent by cartoonists from 28 countries. These cartoons tell the story of the past year, ranging from the coronavirus pandemic and the USA presidential election, to Brexit, migrations, and the most recent Belarus attack on journalists.
The name of the cartoonist that won the prestigious 10 thousand euros ECA 2021 prize and of the two runners-up will be released in September.
Click here to see the 16 cartoons.
The nominees
From the group of 14 cartoonists who reached the final stage of the ECA, the Panel of judges will identify a winner and two runners-up, chosen for the poignancy and relevancy their work has had on an international level. The nominees are: André Carrilho, Vitor Neves and Vasco Gargalo and Pedro Silva from Portugal; Marco de Angelis from Italy; Niels Bo Bojesen from Denmark; Muse Gumus from Turkey; Osama Hajjaj from Jordan; Tchavdar Nikolov from Bulgaria; Saeed Sadeghi from Iran; Tom Janssen, Hajo de Rejiger and Tjeerd Royaards from the Netherlands; and Konstantinos Tsanakas – DINO, from Greece.
The Jury
The Panel of Judges was composed by: Janet Anderson (Chair), Khalid Albaih, Gian-Paolo Accardo, Paulo Jorge Fernandes, Anne Derenne. The Laureates jury counted five among the previous year’s nominees: Costel Patrascan, Mette Dreyer, Claudio Antonio Gomes, Halit Kurtulmuş, Tomás Serrano.
A word from the organizers
Thomas van Neerbos, director of the European Press Prize
“Cartoonists are an ‘endangered species’: they increasingly face resistance, threats, and sometimes even censorship. Their space is becoming more and more restricted, both in literal ‘airtime’ and in the themes they address. That also applies to cartoonists here in Europe.”
Gonny Willems, director of Studio Europa Maastricht
“In these unprecedented times of polarization, there is more and more a lack of understanding for the perspective of the other and a well-founded critical sound. The power of political cartoons is to offer an opening to the truth of the other with irony, humor and sharpness.”
About the European Cartoon Award
The European Cartoon Award was founded by the European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht in 2019 – the year in which the New York Times decided to stop running editorial cartoons altogether. Both organizations aim to award courage and quality in the field of cartooning, encouraging cartoonists to continue their essential task, crucial for a healthy democratic society – both within and outside Europe.
The Librexpression centre has recently joined the ECA as publishing partner.