Bahram Arjmandnia, cartoonist, cartoonist, illustrator and animator, was born in 1965 in Tehran and graduated in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran. Arjmand Nia has won many domestic and foreign awards from prestigious festivals and competitions, and has held several solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions. He has judged several festivals and in addition, he has had extensive collaborations with the press, including: Kayhan Caricature Magazine, Hamshahri Newspapers and Magazines, and Iran and Jam Jam Newspapers.
Arjmandnia was recently selected as the igp messenger's egg's shampoo in the second Sticker of the Year award with a fixed sticker, but has recently achieved significant success at foreign festivals. The first prize of the 14th Luxembourg Cartoon and Caricature Award, winner of the condolence prize of the Malaysia International Road Safety Cartoon Competition, 2021, the award of the Municipality of Satrikon, Poland, the winner of the first prize of the first graphic humor competition of Columbia University, the prize of the International Artist Festival section, which is an internal Instagram page , As well as receiving several commendations from various foreign festivals are among these achievements. For this reason, we have had an exclusive conversation with him, which you read:
Thematic variety as well as coloring, spatialization and composition are very evident in your work. What are the factors and points of this diversity?
In all fields of art such as painting, music, film, cinema and animation, etc., we have schools that are known and most artists follow them. In cartoons and caricatures, the artists of these disciplines follow them according to their taste and interest in one or more of these schools. I also use several of them in my cartoons and caricatures, depending on the subject. The Disney and Zagreb schools are, in my opinion, the most attractive of them, and I approach them very often.
The principles of Disney or (Disney) design have remained unchanged from the beginning and its salient features include: the resurrection of inanimate objects, giving human character to animals, bringing the impossible into the world of cartoons, the use of world literary classics and legends. Nations mentioned in the narrative and cartoons.
In this school, the design of the characters is both realistic and caricatured and exaggerated, and curved, fluid and fluid lines are used dramatically. The characters have a simple structure and are based on geometric forms, and then details are added to the images in a complex way, but in the Zagreb school, cartoons follow certain principles. These principles include: simplifying the design, sterilizing and ignoring the principles of anatomy, and using exaggerated modes and caricatures. The backgrounds are simple and devoid of any details, and straight, straight, angled lines are used dramatically. In this school, the content takes precedence over the design, and accordingly, the designs are drawn as simply and clearly as possible so that the viewer's attention is more on the subject. Colors are more limited and in many cases are executed in black and white.
Perhaps the undeniable feature and charm of each of these styles has made me not reach a fixed format all this time.
On the other hand, this thematic variety in my work depends on the space available at the time of its production, which today we all witness the bombardment of news and information that reaches us day and night. We cannot ignore the political and social news around the world and escape or ignore the media that surround us. In many cases, which are related to a festival or competition, the issue is determined by the organizer, and I think about the subject and produce work. Most of the time, I am faced with a lack of time and I will inevitably pass by them without addressing them. In many cases, I react to this news by confirming or denying the opinion of others. For example, when I confirm the work of one of our colleagues in cyberspace and "like" as the famous saying goes, I express my feelings about that news at that moment.
Do you usually choose a topic in your work depending on the theme of festivals and competitions, or do you already work and participate in these competitions in accordance with the topics? For example, a topic like artificial intelligence is not considered as a topical issue, and it seems that you have addressed it due to the festival theme?
As I said, I always face a lack of time and I do not have much time to produce freelance work that I can use later, for example, due to its proximity to the theme of a festival.
Often the theme of the festivals is also in line with the times and they are not far from what we are facing now. The subject of "artificial intelligence" and its festival happens to be the subject of the day, and we are deeply involved with it at the moment. Interestingly, my prediction and the production of this work go back to 22 years ago that neither the Internet was very accurate nor the electronics and robotics industry was so advanced.
The work of Bahram Arjmandnia, who won the first prize at the Luxembourg Festival on the subject of artificial intelligence
Today we are much more dependent on technology than before and its progress is much, much faster. Gradually, we will not have as much aristocracy as we should, and this is where this dear technology will dominate us more than now, and it is no longer our slave, and we have to provide that service more and more because we have become dependent on it. And there is no escape.
The work of Arjmand Nia, winner of the Satrykon Municipality Award in Poland
Given the postage costs of sending works to festivals and foreign competitions, did not participate in these competitions cost you much, or are you sure of the possibility of winning and then you perform and as a result the desired cost will be returned?
Most competitions and festivals have decided to send the works to them via the Internet. Now, either by email or in some cases, the work is uploaded on the site of the same festival, which does not cost us anything. Especially now that we have a coronary condition.
Some festivals only send selected works conditionally, such as the Polish Satrikon. Others only want final works, such as Luxembourg and Cuba. However, there are still festivals and competitions that think very traditionally and announce from the beginning that the original works must be submitted, and with very expensive postage and restrictions, our work becomes very difficult.
In the call for competitions, I read the submission section before each case, and in most cases, I miss the submission of the original work.
In my opinion, competitions and festivals should first refuse to send the original work. There is one very, very delicate and important point that I would like to mention. In some of these festivals, they emphasize having an international bank account, and some of them even mention the issue of sanctions, that if the winner does not have a bank account, it must not be in the name of the main person. It is gone and it burns. Of course, this is my personal opinion, and it may not be what I think, in principle and God willing.
The work of Arjmandnia in the first graphic humor competition of Colombia University
You have participated in many festivals and competitions and won positions and received their prizes and amounts. Have you had any problems with this, given the existing sanctions?
Iranian cartoonists stand in the first place in the world and this has been proven for everyone. That's why I think you have to think of a way for our cartoonists to work around the clock and get their real rights. We are also aware of the fact that we do not have many satirical publications and we do not have any income through this. Our cartoonists are under pressure from all sides, and they are facing economic problems, and as the famous saying goes, they have kept their faces red with slaps, and in many cases, they have also turned pale. Officials must be thinking about this field of art and its future and growth, and as much as they can meet their conditions.
Of course, in response to your SEO, I have to say that I face many problems in receiving my awards, and unfortunately, I am very upset about this and there is no support.
The following is the main image of Bahram Arjmandnia's winning works, in addition to his commendation plaques:
