Freedom of Expression international cartoon contest was organized by Arifur Rahman in 2017, the cartoons was collected through Toons Mag, and the exhibition in Norway has been produced in collaboration with Mia Avistegnernes hus and cartoonist Arifur Rahman, who has himself been a victim of torture and imprisonment for his drawings in 2007 in Bangladesh.
Five hundred and eighteen cartoonists participated from 83 countries, submitting 1,556 cartoons.
The exhibition opening was in three countries. Per Edgard Kokkvold, writer, and chairman of the Norwegian Broadcasting Council inaugurated the exhibition. Moddi Knutsen, a Norwegian musician, inaugurated the exhibition and Roar Hagen, a Norwegian political cartoonist, announced the award winner.
In the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Bangalore, India, Dr. Sathyabhama Badhreenath, director of the National Gallery of Modern Art inaugurated the exhibition.
It was also exhibited in Kýchanie Mozgu – Brain Sneezing gallery, Prešov, and Košice, Slovakia, as well as in the Slovak embassy in Oslo, Norway.
The event was supported by The Norwegian Cartoonist Gallery, Fritt Ord, Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer, Brain Sneezing Gallery, Prešov, and Indian Institute of Cartoonist. Later on, it was exhibited on Eidsvoll.