This year marked the 11th edition of the World Humor Awards and I was honored to once again be one of 8 jurors for this prestigious competition. Winners of both the cartoon and caricature categories, along with the seven other members of the international jury, were invited to Fidenza, Italy, from August 28–30 for a weekend-long celebration of humor, art, and friendship.
Festivities began on Friday with a special exhibition of caricatures honoring the recently deceased Italian singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini, who had been a featured subject of the World Humor Awards in 2022. Guccini passed away just a few weeks before this year’s event, making the exhibition an especially poignant tribute to an important Italian cultural figure and good friend of the event organizers.
The afternoon continued with a tour of the nearby medieval castle in Fontanellato (paired with gelato, of course!) and a visit to the Fidenza Shopping Park, where this year’s highest-ranked and winning works were on display. The evening concluded with another exhibition featuring the winning and jurors’ work at a small gallery in Fidenza, followed by a group dinner.
Saturday morning featured an interview with Belgian cartoonist Pieter De Poortere, creator of the hilarious Dickie comics. After a group lunch, everyone gathered in Fidenza’s central piazza for the official World Humor Awards ceremony, followed by an evening of live drawing with the public.
The 2026 WHA caricature results were:
1st Place: Matias Tolsa (Spain)
2nd Place: Ivan Mata Tamayo (Spain)
3rd Place: Maria Picasso Piquer (Spain)
1st Place ISCA WHA: Lukasz Stostak (Poland)
On Sunday, the group visited the Guareschi Museum, where we toured the comic archives and attended a ceremony honoring the winner of this year’s WHA Prize in Literature. After one more wonderful group lunch, the weekend concluded with a final afternoon of drawing the public at the Fidenza Shopping Park.
More than anything, the weekend was a wonderful opportunity for artists from around the world to spend time together, draw, laugh, share meals, and celebrate the universal languages of art and humor.
I want to send a huge “Grazie mille!” to Gianandrea Bianchi, organizer of the World Humor Awards, for his tremendous work, generous hospitality, and another successful year of partnership with ISCA.
