The 25th Gabrovo Biennial of Humour and Satire in Art 2022, Bulgaria

General entry rules Economy of Means The world has been running on steroids. Nature is privatized and cheapened. Our voracious extraction and consumption of resources have created an ecological debt gone default. Acceleration and gigantism have shaped a metabolic cycle between capital and nature, North and South, rich and poor, clean and polluted, with greed and hypertrophy on one end and exhaustion on the other. There is a global freak show going on, a spectacle of disproportion and distortion reminiscent of those 19th century displays of deformed humans and animals. Only now it happens on a planetary scale and we’re all in it. At times, it seems as if the vicious comedy of the freak show might be the appropriate response to our present-day monstrosity. Can the planetary imaginary be refueled with humor, satire and conviviality? Be it to figure out how to go through collapse as humanly as possible, or to reconsider how much is enough and what constitutes good living. Economy of Means as a biennial theme stands for a shift towards caring and maintenance instead of show business; for looking into society, but also looking at art, its modes of production and means of expression, where brief, economical and simple are part of the punchline delivery.

The competition is open to all artists who accept the conditions of entry. Each artist may enter no more than two works in a section (two works of contemporary art and/or two cartoons). An essential condition for participation in the exhibition is that the selected works should correspond to the theme and be humorous.

The award-winning works become part of the Museum’s collection.

Application procedure:

In order to apply, artists should fill in the online entry-form; depending on the type and media, each work may be visually represented with:

up to 3 images each one of which should not be larger than 5 MB, jpg, png or tiff format; the long side of the image should be minimum 2500 px; artists whose works are selected to be shown in the exhibitions should be ready to provide images with print quality for the catalog.

video that can be watched online at a URL provided by the artist (if user name and password are needed, they should be indicated in the field for short description of the work)

animated cartoons (gif and flash) with duration of up to 25 seconds (provided through a URL or file upload)

The selection of the works will be done by a panel of jurors.

The selected artists must send their original works by post (or deliver them in person at the Museum) within the indicated deadline (See item 3).

Important dates:

17th January 2022, midnight CET – closing date for applications

the artists whose works are selected for the exhibition will receive by e-mail instructions for transporting the works to the Museum of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo; artists must be ready to submit works in the period 1 - 18 March 2022.

The exhibition will run until 30th September 2022. Artists who wish to donate their works to the Museum's collection will receive a document to that effect. The works of all other artists will be returned from 01.10 to 30.11 2022 to the address specified by the artist. Artists can also personally collect their works from the Museum within the same deadline.

The cash prizes are subject to taxation in conformity with Bulgarian law. The prizes can be received no later than 31st December 2022.

The Museum reserves the right to reproduce the works on display and have them printed in its own and foreign publications, as well as on the internet.

The organizers guarantee that the artists’ personal data shall be processed as it is stipulated in the Personal Data Protection Act in force in the Republic of Bulgaria now.

The conditions of entry are contractually binding. By submitting works to the competition artists agree to the terms of this contract.

The FAQ (frequently asked questions) section of the website provides further useful information.