The International Political Poster and Cartoon Competition
"Watch Out, Femida!"

Russian version

The "Free culture" organization and the Museum of Nonconformist Art continue to develop the project, "Nota Bene, or Pay Attention!"

The goal: to bring attention to problems that threaten Russia and the rest of the world.

The method: to maximize the full potential of the cartoonists and poster-artists from Russia and other foreign countries.

The process: to carry out international competitions of political posters and cartoons, draw attention to exceptional work, exhibit artwork, distribute prizes, create an album which catalogues the exhibits, and to distribute and use the best work in the public sphere.

The first exhibition of the project was the competition, "Watch out, Nazis!" which took place in St. Petersburg in 2005.

Our call for participation was answered by artists from Brazil, Uzbekistan, Spain, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Poland, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Germany, Israel, the United States, Italy, Armenia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ukraine, Slovakia, Japan, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Australia, Iran, Bosnia and Russia. They submitted over 300 works to the competition.
An exhibition was held in St. Petersburg and Moscow to announce the results of the competition, awarding prizes to citizens of six countries.

The catalogues and posters of prize-winning work are circulated to Russian libraries and other public organizations.

Every participant of the exhibit receives an album containing the works.

The exhibit expanded on the internet, where the site was visited by 60165 people who left over 140 thousand responses. To see the exhibit and to leave your opinion and commentary, go to http://notabene.org.ru
The success of the first exhibition of the project proved the necessity of its continuation.

The motto of the next international competition in the framework of our project is "Watch out, Femida!"

We picked this theme because we believe that the following injustices exist in the world:
- dependence on power
- police brutality and incompetence
- individual and societal bias in the courtroom
- the use of repression for political reasons
- the system's inability to effectively counteract crime

These problems remain a threat to modern Russia.

THE ORDER OF THE COMPETITION:

1. The judges accept entries to the competition in two forms: posters and cartoons.
2. The deadline for submission of the work is November 25, 2006.
3. The competition is held in the cultural center, "Free Culture," on 10 Pushkin Street, in St. Petersburg
4. Location:
- at the Museum of Nonconformist Art, St. Petersburg
- at the A. Saharova Academic Center, Moscow
5. The press conference on judicial abuses in Russia and the presentation of the album containing the work of the competition's participants is held in St. Petersburg.
6. Posters of the prize-winning works are produced and distributed.
7. The album is distributed to all the participants of the exhibition.
8. The participants who receive the acknowledgement of the jury as well as the support of the viewers are awarded prizes.
9. After the competition, the work of the participants will be sent to the fund of the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the "Nota Bene" project will receive the right to noncommercial use of their art.
10. Guidelines for entries: the poster must be A1, A2, the cartoons have no restrictions.

Foreign participants and native Russian artists who are unable to hand in work in its original form, may send the work electronically.
(format-TIFF, JPG, CMYK colors, 300 DPI)

Mail address:
 Russia, 191049, St. Petersburg, 10 Pushkin Street, Office 1.

Email address:
uar@notabene.org.ru

Project Directors: Victor Bogorad, July Rybakov. www.rybakov.spb.ru

Judges of the competition:
Chairman: July Rybakov, artist, human rights activist
Victor Bogorad, Vice President of FECO
Michael Kuzmin, art director, active member of the Academy of Humour Support (Grenoble)
Samuel Lurie, member of the Writer's Union, Russian journalist, APCC.
Yuri Stern, the President of International Association of Development of Cultural and Economic Ties (Italy)
Sichev Nicholai, the head artist of the Museum of Nonconformist Art
Gregory Svetozarov, Chairman of the Leningrad Cartoonist Club
Yuri Schmidt, chairman of the Russian committee of lawyers and defenders of human rights.

For more information call: (812) 764-5371, or fax: (812) 764-52-07

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