Dandelion

International Poster & Cartoon Festival

Introduction

In this fast-moving world, where human pain and hope are often buried beneath loud political headlines, many faces are reduced to single-layered narratives that fail to reflect their truth.
Yet behind every name stands a whole human being, with all their contradictions: faith and hesitation, simplicity and responsibility, inner calm and hidden storms.

Martyr General Qassem Soleimani is one of those faces.
His image has frequently been presented in global media as nothing more than a “political symbol,” stripped of the moral, human, and spiritual dimensions that shaped his character.
For millions across the region, he represented support, resilience, strategic clarity, and quiet humility. But this human side rarely found space to appear amid the noise of politics.

“Dandelion” comes as an attempt to rediscover this face not through politics, but through art — the universal language of images.
The festival seeks to revive values that know no borders:
simplicity, courage, loyalty, human protection, spirituality, and inner tranquility.

It invites artists from around the world to express these human values through posters, cartoons, and AI-assisted artworks — a free, poetic, conceptual, and profound retelling of “the human face of an enduring legacy.”

This festival is not a political contest.
It is a global artistic movement — an invitation to see the human being behind the headlines.

Festival Sections

The festival includes four independent categories, and participants may submit to any of them separately.

Poster

Theme: Soleimani: The Erased Narrative

Note: A graphic poster created without the use of artificial intelligence.

AI Poster

Theme: Soleimani: The Erased Narrative

Note: A poster produced using AI-based creative tools.

Open Poster

Theme: Resistance: A Borderless Front

Note: A free graphic interpretation of resistance and its human stories, with the option to reference the role of Martyr Soleimani as an inspiring figure.

Cartoon

Theme: Soleimani: The Erased Narrative

Note: A single-frame cartoon, hand-drawn or digital, without the use of artificial intelligence.

General Conditions​

• Participation is open to all artists from all countries.
• Each artist may submit up to five works in each category.
• All submissions must be new and must not have won in any previous competition.
• The use of AI is strictly prohibited in the Poster and Cartoon sections.
• AI is permitted only in the AI Poster section.
• Works may be hand-drawn or digital (for the non-AI categories).
• Hand-drawn works must be submitted as a high-quality photo or scan.
• All submissions must be sent in suitable quality and without watermarks, logos, or signatures.
• Submitting a work implies consent to comply with GDPR (EU 2016/679) and grants non-commercial usage rights for exhibition and festival media. The organizer bears no responsibility for the sale or circulation of artworks.
• Copyright infringement is strictly forbidden. Artists are fully responsible for the originality and ownership of their works, and any violating submission may be excluded without obligation to provide justification.

Special Requirements

The technical specifications for submitted works are as follows:

Poster Section

• Format: JPG or PNG
• Resolution: 300 dpi
• Dimensions: 50×70 cm (vertical or horizontal)
• A TIF file will be requested after qualification to the second stage of judging.

AI Poster Section

• Format: JPG or PNG
• Resolution: 300 dpi
• Minimum size for at least one side: 2000 px
• The work must be a single image.

Submission Requirements:
• The full prompt used to generate the image
• Three stages of the production process (initial – mid – final)
• A written explanation of 3–5 lines describing the production workflow
• A screenshot of the metadata, if available

Important Notice:
Please read all the rules on this page carefully before submitting your work. Failure to comply with any item may result in exclusion from the judging process.

Cartoon Section

• Format: JPG or PNG
• Resolution: 300 dpi
• Minimum size for at least one side: 2000 px

Registration and Submission of Works

Please send your works exclusively to the following address:

Festival@GeneralSoleimani.com

A Word file containing all the information listed below must be attached to the submission:

Required Information:

• Full name
• Country / Nationality
• Email
• Phone number
• Full postal address
• Artist’s portrait photo
• File name of the work + the corresponding section (Poster / Cartoon / Open / AI, depending on the number of submitted works)

Optional Information:

• Alias (if you prefer not to display your real name)
• Short résumé (optional)
• Personal pages / social media links (optional)

Awards

The general and section-specific awards of the festival are as follows:
Selected Winners – Poster Section

First Prize

1000 EUR
Festival Trophy
Certificate of Appreciation

Second Prize

500 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

People’s Choice Award

300 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

Two Special Awards

250 EUR for each recipient
Certificate of Appreciation

Selected Winners – Open Poster Section

First Prize

1000 EUR
Festival Trophy
Certificate of Appreciation

Second Prize

500 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

People’s Choice Award

300 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

Two Special Awards

250 EUR for each recipient
Certificate of Appreciation

Selected Winners – AI Poster Section

First Prize

500 EUR
Festival Trophy
Certificate of Appreciation

Second Prize

300 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

People’s Choice Award

300 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

Selected Winners – Cartoon Section

First Prize

1000 EUR
Festival Trophy
Certificate of Appreciation

Second Prize

500 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

People’s Choice Award

300 EUR
Certificate of Appreciation

Two Special Awards

250 EUR for each recipient
Certificate of Appreciation

Certificates and Publication

Digital Certificate of Participation

Publication in the Festival Catalogue

Exhibition of selected works

• A digital participation certificate will be granted to all participants who qualify for the first stage of judging.
• Selected works will be published in the official catalogue of the event.
• Chosen works will be exhibited in the festival’s international virtual exhibition.

Submission Deadline and Address

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
مهلت ارسال به پایان رسیده است.
Submission Deadline:

12 Bahman 1404

1 February 2026

12 Ramadan 1447
Participants must submit their works along with the required Word file exclusively to the following email address:

Festival@GeneralSoleimani.com

To receive all official notices, updates, results, and announcements of the competition, please follow the festival through our authorized communication channels.

All verified news, potential changes, and important announcements will be made only through the official platforms listed below.