CARTOONS straddling the humour spectrum from mild irony to deep sarcasm are on display at the Union of Bulgarian Artists.

They're there for the National Cartoon Exhibition, which opened on Monday for the 26th time. Thirty-five artists took part and there were 233 submissions.

There were no limits set on artistic techniques or materials used so styles ranged from plain ink to graphics and though some carried a definite political message many were non-political.

Chavdar Georgiev, one of the organising cartoonists said the most important criteria was not the political character of the cartoons but their artistic value. Most of the artists who participated were media artists.

"Most of the artists who took part in the last exhibit presented cartoons at this one too. However, the main difference this time is that now we present works of artists who share different political views and most of them are members of political parties."

Among the other participants are Bozhidar Georgiev, Georgi Chalukov, Diliana Nikolova, Dimitar 'Muti' Vulchev, Zlati Dimov, Lazar Kotsev, Mincho Ivanov, Nezhna Filipova, Nikola 'Kayo' Georgiev, Svetlin Stefanov, and Slavi Petrinski.

The exhibition also tracked how the cartoon has been used in advertising in Bulgaria. The most popular cartoonists working in that field were Ivan 'Kuti' Kotuzov and Lubomir Mihailov.

Chavdar Georgiev said: "I am one of the few artists who use their cartoons for business. I use them as illustrations on the covers of books which I publish, mostly small funny books with jokes on various themes."

The event was sponsored by Doctor's Vodka and the newspapers 24 Chassa and Trud. Bulgarian cartoons are very popular in Germany," Chavdar Georgiev said.

On Monday morning a panel of four from the Union of Bulgarian Artists - Ivailo Cvetkov, Ivan Kutuzov, Nikolay Popov and Chavdar Georgiev - chose the winners.

The results were announced at the opening of the exhibition at 5.30pm on Monday following speeches by the President of the Union of Bulgarian Artists, Hristo Haralampiev, and the oldest participant, Lazar Kotsev.

Tsocho Peev claimed the winner's statue this year with Diliana Nikolova second and Rumen Dragostinov third. Slavi Petrinski on behalf of the artists' circle Zhivopisatira gave a separate award to Rumen Dragostinov.

Anatolii Stankulov received a special award from the Demokratsia newpaper for his cartoon, "Trojanski Kon" (Trojan Horse).

The exhibition is on until February 18 at the gallery at 6 Shipka Street.