Congratulations to Flu Hartberg, who received the Norwegian Illustration Foundation's Honorary Scholarship of 100,000 kroner. The prize, which also included a silkscreen print by Tord Torpe, was presented by Kjersti Synneva Moen during the Oslo Comics Expo.
The honorary scholarship is awarded on behalf of the board of the Norwegian Illustration Fund to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the art of illustration in the artistic or political fields. The honorary scholarship has always gone to recipients who have earned special recognition and are highly respected in the professional community.
The jury's reasoning:
Flu Hartberg is awarded the Norwegian Illustration Fund's honorary prize and honorary scholarship 2025 for her commitment in the fight against intellectual property theft by AI companies and against the uncritical use of AI illustrations by Norwegian media and publishers.
Flu is one of our most prominent cartoonists, with his distinct style, his great work capacity and his versatile production. He was among the initiators of Oslo Comics Expo and is a familiar face as a moderator and organizer in many contexts. With his unique mix of humor and seriousness, he is both a creative inspiration, a driving force and an extroverted representative of an often introverted industry. We hope the award can serve as recognition of the important work Flu has done, and is doing in the fight for our profession and for our jobs.
The scholarship has been awarded at irregular intervals, the first time was in 1991 and among the fourteen who have received the scholarship in the past we find many well-known and renowned artists, such as Oscar Reynert Olsen, Finn Graff, Fredrik Stabel and Ingrid Jangaard Ousland. Egil Nyhus was the last to receive the award in 2016.
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Photo: Martine Falkeid Kommedal.
