In 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 RAI's educational outreach activities and publications.

The contest encouraged cartoons which explored anthropological topics and ideas in comical, original, and engaging ways.

The contest was very well received with entries from all over the world including India, Brazil, Italy, UK, Canada, United States and Malawi.

A panel of 6 judges were appointed to assess the submissions:

Nafisa Fera, Project Manager (Education Officer at the RAI)

Susanne Hammacher (Film Officer at the RAI)

Maureen Bloom (Assistant Reviews Editor for the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute)

Melanie Knetsch (Science in Society Communications and Information Directorate, ESRC)

Dr. Stephanie Bunn (Anthropology Lecturer at the University of St. Andrews)

Dr. Ben Burt (Curator for the Department of Africa, Oceania, Americas at the British Museum)

The panel of judges were thoroughly impressed by the quality, and number of interesting contributions to the contest.

Take a look at the short-listed finalists on our cartoon gallery!

For further information about the contest, download our poster or take a look at our contest guidelines.