In July 2009, the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Education Outreach Programme launched an International Anthropology Cartoon Contest. The aims of the contest were to promote creative public engagement with the discipline, and to provide an opportunity for people with a passion for anthropology to share their work and take an active involvement in the RAI’s educational outreach activities and publications. The contest encouraged cartoons which explored anthropological topics and ideas in a comical, original, and engaging way. Participants were encouraged to ‘think outside the box’ and be creative in how they explored the subject. The competition was open to high school students, undergraduate and postgraduate anthropology students and anyone interested and passionate about the discipline. Topics could include for example: human evolution, fossil discoveries, forensics,cultural traditions, ceremonies and rituals, beauty and fashion, fieldwork, tourism and Facebook. Participants were asked to submit a title and brief description of their cartoon.
Since the recent events in Paris led us to discuss satire and cartoons, it is a good time to take a step back and LOL at ourselves. Hence, we are delighted to present the work of the 3rd Place Winner of the contest: Igor Cherstich, with a cartoon entitled : « Anthropology: dialogue with the other » Dr. Igor Cherstich is a Social Anthropologist who holds a PhD from SOAS. His academic interests cover the Ethnography of North-Africa, Libya, Sufism, Salafism, Tribalism, Perception of the State and Politics. As Igor explains :
« The cartoon talks ironically about the relationship with ‘the other’. Anthropology is supposed to provide a dialogue with the other…well, it is supposed to do that… »
This entry was awarded third prize (shared jointly with David King’s The Globalised Shman animation) for the RAI’s International Anthropology Cartoon Contest
