Imaan Khan, Year 12
“How can I be neutral, even my pen has a stand” – Zunar
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the 2016 International Editorial Cartoons Prize awards which occurs once every two years. The event included speeches from a number of well known members of the Cartooning for Peace organization such as Kofi Annan and Patrick Chapette, in addition to the vice mayor of Geneva. A major theme of the night was freedom of expression, how we can express ourselves through cartooning and how political cartooning is one of the best weapons to fight corruption.
This year the two winners; Gado is a Kenyan political cartoonist who has contributed to many well known papers such as the Daily News, Business Times, Courrier International and the South African Sunday Tribune. He covers a wide range of topics, from AIDS to deforestation. Zunar is a Malaysian political cartoonist who has written multiple books, some of which his government has banned as he speaks up against the injustices he sees on a daily basis in Malaysia.
Both winners gave speeches which perfectly captured the essence of political cartooning as they both explained what it is like to be persecuted for speaking up and defending their right to express themselves. Hanni Abbas, who won the same prize in 2014 and gives cartooning lessons here at LGB, also attended the event and spoke about one of his fellow cartoonists in Syria who was recently murdered for his cartoons.
Overall the event was an amazing experience, as It really opened my eyes to the struggle artists have and how people react to them criticising their governments and raising awareness to worldwide corruption.
Below are pictures of the event and cartoons included in the exhibition some of which were drawn by Gado and Zunar.
Left to right: Guillaume Barazzone the Vice Mayor of Geneva, Gado Zunar and Kofi Annan
The exhibition of cartoons near the lake side. The exhibition consisted of cartoons from artists around the world.
