Cartoon Movement

New Cartoonist: Ehsan Ganji

Ehsan Ganji is a cartoonist from Tehran, Iran. He has been working as a cartoonist since 2001 and have published in several daily and monthly newspapers in Iran. Check out his Instagram to see more of his work.

Basque Police Union Mad About Human Rights Cartoon

Our 30 cartoons about the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights  - made last year in partnership with the United Nations Human Rights Office - are currently on display at a UNESCO exhibition in Getxo, a town near Bilbao, Spain.

ERNE, the police union of the Ertzaintza, the atonomous Basque police ,has protested against the cartoon illustrating article 5 (no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment). The cartoon by Brazilian artist Elihu Duayer depicts three policemen in riot gear laughing about human rights, as if they were a joke.

ERNE has demanded this cartoon be taken out of the exhibition, because they do not like to be linked to torture. However, the Getxo City Council has replied to the union that it does not intend to remove the cartoon from the exhibition, stating the vignette does not refer to the Ertzaintza, but alludes to police brutality in other countries.

ERNE will today (December 3) file a formal complaint. Read more about the controversy on this website (in Spanish) or watch this video (also in Spanish).

New Cartoonist: Normal Gergely

Normal Gergely is a visual and sound artist from Budapest, Hungary. His stark black and white illustrations resemble woodcuts and have a clear social message. Check out his website to see more of his work.

Talking about Cartoons at the UN

Last week, CM editor Tjeerd Royaards was invited by the Permanent Representation to the UN of the Netherlands to participate in an event at the Palace of Nations in Geneva. He talks about his experience with talking about social satire at the United Nations:

My talk focused on the shrinking space for freedom of expression in general, and for editorial cartoons in particular. Not only do we have many leaders in power that do not like to be mocked, newspaper editors seem to be getting more timid when it comes to publishing political satire (just look at the decision of the New York times earlier this year to stop publishing cartoons altogether).

To illustrate my point I made a video showing a cartoon about the current situation for cartoonists:

Now the thing about the UN is that within the halls of UN buildings you are not allowed to insult political leaders. I had hoped to get away with it by drawing a lot of them in one cartoon, but the organization that invited me was afraid they might never be allowed to host an event at the Palace of nations again if I were to show the cartoon above. So I was faced with a choice; either withdraw from the event, or censor my own work.

I try to take any opportunity I get to talk about the importance of cartoons and freedom of expression (especially at international level), so I was reluctant to cancel. Instead, I tried to think of a way to work around the constraints while still making the same point. Here's what I came up with:

In the end, there is little difference between kings fearing the jester mocking them and (authoritarian) leaders fearing the cartoonist's sharp pen. And I'm quite sure those in the audience will have recognized many of them in my altered version. Here are the two of them side by side:

New Cartoonist: Seyran Caferli

Seyran Caferli is the first cartoonist from Azerbaijan to join Cartoon Movement. He is director of Humortoons, a website for international cartoon news.

Cartoonists for Democracy

37 cartoonists from around the world will gather at the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg on November 6, 7 and 8 at the invitation of Cartooning for Peace. Among them are many CM members, including Pedro X. Molina, Camdelafu, Marilena Nardi and Ali Ghamir. Read the full programme here.

Blocked in China, Iran, Russia and Turkey

If you can read this post, you are part of the diminishing group that enjoys free access to the Internet (or using a VPN). An old saying about cartoonists states that a good cartoon always needs to piss off someone.

We tend to agree, and it seems we are doing a good job pissing off those in power, especially those despots who fear a few lines will make them lose their power. How do we know this? Cartoon Movement is currently blocked in China, Iran, Russia and Turkey.

Source: Comparitech

New Cartoonist: Carmelo Kalashnikov

Carmelo Kalashnikov is an Italian cartoonist. His work is published in Midnight Magazine and he is part of the Sputnink collective. Check out more of his work on his Facebook page.

New Cartoonist: Riccardo Marinucci

Riccardo Marinucci is an Italian cartoonist from Abruzzo. His work is published by Italian online media and has appeared on TV. He is is also one of the founders of Sputnink, a collective of young Italian cartoonists. Follow him on Instagram to see more of his work.

New Cartoonist: GASGO

GASGO is a cartoonist who doubles as a sports writer for an online news agency in the Philippines.