53nd Edition of the International Exhibition of Humor

Theme of the year: SEA

With the 53rd anniversary, the award ceremony for drawing with the Palme d'Or returns and the Salon once again becomes one of the longest-running world exhibitions!

After Peynet it's Quino's turn to be the protagonist of the homage to an author. A series of twelve panels tell us about Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón, or Quino, master of profound irony expressed through an essential trait. Mafalda, his famous big girl, captures us with her gaze on humanity, feminine, acute, irreverent, typical of the 60s.

The winners for drawing are: Palma d'Oro: Halit Kurtulmus (Turkey), Golden Date Maria Gió Quaranta, Silver Date Luc Vernimmen (Belgium)

The collaborations: a splendid panel from the WOW Comics Museum in Milan tells the birth and success of this unique initiative in Italy. The talk Why we laugh; from the physiology of laughter to the recipe for provoking it, edited by Alessandro Zucchelli. Stari Ribar's laboratory to stimulate imagination and respect for the environment. The works of Giancarlo Mazzoni, a sculptor artist, who works in Bordighera but his works set sail for distant seas. The Beach Guys a collection of caricatures of the stereotypes of tanning fanatics by Paolo Del Bianco, Dattero d'Oro in 1994, which also presents Nettuno é PERFETTO", a funny caricature of the legendary founder of the Salon, Cesare Perfetto.

Alongside the manga stands curated by the Mondadori bookstore, the contemporaryhumorous literature of Amico Libro and the historical comics of thAmici del ComicAssociation of Ventimiglia, in the frame of the cut outs by Peynet, Jacovitti, Mordillo, Cavandoli.

The Awards

After a break of over twenty years, the competition and the award ceremony are back! The Palma d'Oro, the Dattero d'Oro and the Dattero d'Argento are the awards to the best drawings on the theme. Furthermore, the jury, given the merit of the many humorists, decided to also assign twelve Honorable Mentions. As per tradition, the Salone Association decided to honor some personalities with representation awards that were granted to Francesco Salvi for his humorous verve and for his return to the Salone with the Rama di Palma'Oro; to Lucio Trojano for his long attendance at Bordighera with the Friendship Award and to Louis Pol Postruzin, Australian humorist, who came specially from Sydney after 23 years with the City of Bordighera Award.

Humorous drawing

Trofeo di Palma d'Oro

Halit Aytoslu Kurtulmus
Turkey

Palma d'Oro for humorous drawing 2023. Motivation: The choice by the Jury was immediate. The work of Halit Kurtulmuş Aytoslu, a Bulgarian, naturalised Turk, focuses on humor in the proper meaning of the term. In front of his drawing one smiles, thinks and perhaps even cries. On board the dinghy travel - uncomfortably - many people. And some didn't even manage to get there. Despair and hope, tragic humanity and yet no morbid complacency, but rather a bitter smile full of tenderness on the face of the beholder.

Dattero d'Oro

Mariagrazia Quaranta
Italy

Golden Date for humour cartoon 2023. The Golden Date was won by Maria Grazia “Gio” Quaranta, a designer with an unmistakable touch, capable of conveying very powerful messages through a delicate stroke and great executive care. In the hands of Gio Quaranta the sea is a disturbing environment, where the bright colors and the suggestions that she gives are, in reality, just a deception. A trap that hides the most bitter of illusions: the hammerhead fish is a freak of nature, a sea monster, born from the arranged and consummated marriage between the most agile of fish and the most widespread of plastics.

Dattero d'Argento

Luc Vernimmen
Belgium

Silver Date for humour cartoon 2023. Silver Date for humorous drawing 2023. With great pleasure we award the Silver Date to Luc Vernimmen, Belgian cartoonist illustrator and graphic designer, to whom the word sea has evoked a holiday vision. However, a holiday that is not synonymous with rest, on the contrary, it is the zenith of the frenzy of contemporary life. Therefore, setting aside the concept of the sea as an archetype of the holiday, in Luc Vernimmen's design the sea is an obligatory stop, a deadline to escape, a tick to put in a busy agenda.
Rama of Palme d'Or

Rama di Palma d'Oro

Louis Postruzin Pol
Australia

Rama of the Golden Palm of the International Humor Exhibition and the City of Bordighera. After 25 years he returns to Bordighera from Australia to participate in the reborn Salone.

Rama di Palma d'Oro

Francesco Salvi
Italy

Rama di Palma d'Oro to Francesco Salvi, for a welcome return to Bordighera after the DATTERO for literature and awaiting the long-awaited continuation of the History of World Culture from before prehistory to next week!
Honorable Mention

Targa

Margherita Allegri
Italy

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Pierre Ballouhey
France

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Agus Harsanta
Indonesia

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Izabela Kowalska-Wieczorek
Poland

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Huey Nguyenhuu
United States

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Andrea Pecchia
Italy

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Asier Sanz Nieto
Spain

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Doriano Solinas
Italy

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Sergio Tessarolo
Italy

Honorable Mention 2023

Targa

Hou Xiaoqiang
China

Honorable Mention 2023
Targa

Lucio Trojano
Italy

Special plaque to commemorate the long and solid friendship between Cesare Perfetto and Carlo Pignotti

The drawings

The SEA theme was particularly felt by 400 artists from over 60 countries on 5 continents in a crossroads of different sensitivities scattered throughout the world which mainly highlights three aspects, as written by Paola Biribanti, member of the jury: The sea as an environment polluted by plastics is result the most addressed topic; followed by the sea understood as a perilous gateway to a new life, therefore as a place for vacation and recreation. A high quality result. The level of most of the drawings is decidedly high, so it was the unanimous will of the Jury to raise the number of recipients of the Special Mention to twelve.

View the entire gallery of drawings

Books of the year

L'uomo di Marketing e la variante limone (Bompiani)

Meeting with the author. Presents Luca Restivo. Fun look at the corporate world of communication
Muto come una vignetta (Il Pennino)

Presentation with the collaboration of Dino Aloi. Historical essay on the birth of the cartoon as an artistic expression and costume satire.
Balene salvateci! (Mursia)

Stereotypes and misunderstandings about cetaceans. Maddalena was assisted by the brilliant and quick pencil of Milko Dalla Battista

Photo Gallery

The SEA theme was particularly felt by 400 artists from over 60 countries on 5 continents in a crossroads of different sensitivities scattered throughout the world which mainly highlights three aspects, as written by Paola Biribanti, member of the jury: The sea as an environment polluted by plastics is result the most addressed topic; followed by the sea understood as a perilous gateway to a new life, therefore as a place for vacation and recreation. A high quality result. The level of most of the drawings is decidedly high, so it was the unanimous will of the Jury to raise the number of recipients of the Special Mention to twelve.