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CRNI’s blog covers matters related to the field of cartooning and international efforts to secure practitioners’ freedom of expression as well as the use of cartoonists’ work in human rights advocacy.

Arifur Rahman runs for office

The cartoonist, formally of Bangladesh and now resident in Norway, is seeking election as a councillor in the Frogn municipality.

Arifur Rahman, election candidate, Frogn, Norway 2019
Arifur Rahman is a candidate for the Sosialistisk Venstreparti in Frogn municipality, Norway in the 2019 local government elections.

In 2017 we reported upon Arifur Rahman’s dissatisfaction after a cartoon exhibition in Drøbak was vandalised, apparently by an asylum seeker who took offence at religious imagery. This piqued his interest in local politics and has led to his candidature in the forthcoming elections, set for September 9th.

Rahman will stand on behalf of the Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV) in the Frogn municipality. He is especially interested in freedom of expression, equal rights, education and environmental issues.

“If I may compare society to a boat and say I want to sail in it on a long voyage, but I find some leak below deck then I have to fix it immediately, otherwise my ignorance may be the reason for the entire boat sinking.
So I want to do something for society. I want to contribute to our having a better society.”

Arifur Rahman

In 2007 Rahman was imprisoned for six months by Islamic fundamentalists. With the assistance of the ICORN network he relocated to Norway in 2010 and shortly thereafter founded the ToonsMag platform for cartoonists worldwide. He was one of several displaced cartoonists with whom we caught up during the ICORN and PEN International Writers in Prison Committee conference “At Home Everywhere” in Rotterdam, Netherlands earlier this year.

Some of the cartoonists granted refuge within ICORN cities in the past include: Khalid Albaih, Ali Durani, Arifur Rahman and Abduallahi Muhiaddin. Pictured in Rotterdam, 2019 with CRNI Deputy Executive Director Terry Anderson.
Some of the cartoonists granted refuge within ICORN cities in the past include:
Khalid Albaih, Ali Durani, Arifur Rahman and Abduallahi Muhiaddin.

We commend Arifur Rahman for his continuing commitment to the principles of free speech and democratic rights and consider him an exemplary case of the contribution that cartoonists can make to wider society.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network International

Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award 2019: Nominations Open

Cartoonists Rights Network International seeks nominations as we prepare to present our twenty-fourth Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award.

Previous winner of the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award Musa Kart, currently a prisoner in Turkey.

CRNI presents this award to a cartoonist who has demonstrated exceptional courage in the face of overwhelming threats while pursuing their right to free speech as defined by Article 19 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Please send your nomination to CRNI Executive Director Robert Russell at director@cartoonistsrights.org with “Annual Award” on the subject line — or click here:

Email us your Courage Award nomination

The email should contain a brief description of the threats and/or censorship faced by the cartoonist. If possible, please include contact information for the cartoonist. The cut-off date for nominations is Friday, July 12th at 12.00 EST

CRNI’s Board of Directors will consider the nominees and select a recipient. The 2019 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award will be presented at a later date.

Read about previous Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award Winners

Note: CRNI does not award a specific cartoon for its excellence and is not seeking submission of cartoons about freedom of expression or threats to it.  We recognise a cartoonist who is under attack themselves.  Therefore CRNI makes no comment on the quality or content of the work. However CRNI will not consider cartoonists whose work advocates violence or encourages racism, sexism or any form of hate speech.

L to r: Zunar, Chappatte, PX Molina – AAEC Convention, September 2018

Last year’s winner was the Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro X. Molina, later forced to leave home and pursue a career in exile. He is pictured here at the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists’ convention where he received his award from past winner Zunar of Malaysia and with the co-founder of the Cartooning For Peace Swiss Foundation, Patrick Chappatte, recently dismissed along with all cartoon content from the pages of The New York Times’ international edition.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network International

Badiucao campaigns for “Tank Man” emoji

The dissident Chinese cartoonist, who this week revealed his face to the public for the first time, requests that cartoonists everywhere post their selfies and artwork to Twitter using #Tiananmen31

Badiucao unmasked
Badiucao, China’s Artful Dissident

We recently reported that Badiucao has ended a decade of wholly anonymous artistic practice while living in exile in Australia. The new documentary film CHINA’S ARTFUL DISSIDENT was broadcast on ABC Tuesday night and concluded with the first public appearance of the cartoonist without a mask. (It can still be seen on ABC’s iView service).

Badiucao coverage in Star Metro Vancouver.
Badiucao makes the front pages in Canada.

Since then there have been numerous unmasked interviews and articles with Badiucao in the international media. Of particular note is a piece in the Hong Kong Free Press – the hosts of the cancelled 2018 exhibition at the heart of the documentary – that reveals an interaction between the cartoonist and Twitter over the past year.

Badiucao offered the social media giant use of his cartoon of the iconic “Tank Man” as the basis for a new emoji to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the massacre of students and other protestors on Tiananmen Square, Beijing. Twitter declined, stating that allocation of commemorative emoji amounts to a finite resource.

Badiucao "Tank Man" emoji, rejected by Twitter.
Badiucao’s rejected emoji idea.

However the cartoonist sees this as an act of capitulation to the notoriously censorious regime. Earlier this week, hundreds of Chinese Twitter accounts were suspended, apparently by mistake, but interpreted by activists as an attempt to curtail discussion of the Tiananmen events on and around June 4th.

Twitter's letter to cartoonist Badiucao, rejecting his submission of a "Tank Man" emoji for Tiananmen Square commemoration.
Twitter responds to Badiucao’s request.

Badiucao seeks to ensure that there is a “Tank Man” emoji added in time for the next anniversary and asks that cartoonists everywhere join him in the effort:

  • post a selfie to Twitter, showing your face in solidarity with Badiucao
  • include your drawing of the “Tank Man” – a figure with their back turned, dressed in white shirt and black pants holding two shopping bags
  • use the hashtag #Tiananmen31, the next anniversary of the event
  • copy in @twitter so those in charge of the platform see your posts

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network International

Greece: cartoon campaign against far-right hate crime

X Them Out, A Black Map of Athens uses cartoons to mark incidents of racially-motivated abuse and violence in the Greek capital.

X Them Out - Black Map of Athens
X Them Out – Black Map of Athens

A joint effort of HumanRights360 and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation – Greece, the X Them Out, A Black Map of Athens website intends to record the racially-motivated crimes of the Golden Dawn party and its supporters. Cartoons by a wide variety of contributors create a sombre, emotive record of each incident reported.

Tasos Anastasiou cartoon for X Them Out - Black Map of Athens
Tasos Anastasiou cartoon for X Them Out – Black Map of Athens

“The Golden Dawn trial has brought to light dozens of racist crimes, mostly against migrants and refugees. However the full extent of its criminal, racist activity is not adequately known. With this campaign we attempt to establish a topography of racist violence. We seek to make its dark dimensions and its deadly nature more familiar to the general public. To this end we want to create, with the valuable support of 25 visual artists, an antiracist map of our city.

“Racist violence is invisible only when we do not wish to see it, when we avoid confronting it. This year, 2019, is the crucial, final year of the most important and biggest trial of our time. We have tried to visualise just a small part of this topography of violence that has its origins in Golden Dawn and fascism, in order to contribute to acquainting the general public with their crimes and in punishing their murderous activity.”

X Them Out, A Black Map of Athens
Tasos Anastasiou cartoon for X Them Out - Black Map of Athens
Tasos Anastasiou cartoon for X Them Out – Black Map of Athens

As the criminal trial of Golden Dawn’s leadership – precipitated by the murder of rapper Pavlos Fydssas – enters its finals stages the organisers of X Them Out are seeking additional assistance from cartoonists who may be able to create a record of the process. Audio visual recordings of the court proceedings are forbidden, so cartoonists are invited to attend in the public gallery and create work thereafter, similar to the effort in Turkey during the Cumhuriyet trial of 2017. Financial assistance is available to cover travel expenses.

 To participate contact HumanRights360

Cartoons above by Tasos Anastasiou; like him on Facebook & follow him on Twitter

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network International

Statement: support the Women Cartoonists International Award

Our longtime friend and colleague Kianoush Ramanzani has, through his organization United Sketches, announced the creation of a new cartooning award specifically for women: the Women Cartoonists International Award.

UPDATE! The award offers two prizes: a €3,000 Grand Prix and another of €1,500 for cartoonists under 26 years of age.

While we normally don’t promote every cartooning contest that comes to our inbox, Deputy Exec. Director Terry Anderson and I concur that this is something singularly important. Women cartoonists, who normally occupy less than 5% of the political cartooning community in recent years have nonetheless emerged as some of the most powerful and effective image-makers in the world. They have carved out a new space for their voices with sharp elbows and sharper pens, especially during and after the Arab Spring movement as well as in Southern Asia.

It is completely appropriate that women have their own exhibitions, their own contests and their own award ceremonies.  This competition brings their work not only to the attention of the world but to the attention of the greater cartooning community – especially editors and publishers who are left the poorer if they don’t make space for a diverse range of creative perspectives.

We endorse the competition and invite other cartooning organizations to join with us in celebrating this new effort in recognition of the importance of the satirical voice of 50% of the population.  Not simply because they are women, but because they are superb communicators. 

If anyone would like to send funds to help in establishing this competition please donate directly to United Sketches or send it to us (the Donate button can be found to the right) earmarked for Women’s Cartoonists International Award. We will make sure your pledge goes straight to the organizers without any administrative costs taken out.

Dr. Robert “Bro” Russell, Executive Director

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network International

Zunar Triumphant

Zunar, winner of our Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award in 2011, is thriving after a long period of adversity as perhaps the biggest year in his career unfolds.

Cartoonist Zunar speaks at Muzium Negeri Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 05/05/19
Zunar speaks at Muzium Negeri Pulau Pinang 05/05/19

A little less than two year ago, Zunar found it impossible to mount public events in his home country of Malaysia and in particular the city of Penang. Exhibitions would either be cancelled outright due to threats or would be interrupted by vandals, invariable leading to yet another incident of arrest or criminal charges for the cartoonist rather than the pro-government goons making his life a misery.

Now a major career retrospective – Art of Freedom – is set to open to the public later this month at the Muzium Negeri Pulau Pinang, the state museum in Penang. Such a thing would have been impossible under the previous regime. The videos below show the scale and beautiful presentation of the exhibit. The launch event last weekend was attended by the leader of the parliamentary opposition in Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim.

“I am nearly choking as I say this because I feel sentimental whenever I see Zunar’s artworks. It reminds me of the suffering we both went through together. And these artworks show the tangible suffering Zunar underwent. His works show how important cartoonists are to the country’s development”

Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, president, People’s Justice Party, Malaysia

Art of Freedom by Zunar live video 5th May 2019 1pm. (Part 1)

Posted by Muzium Negeri Pulau Pinang on Sunday, 5 May 2019

Art of Freedom by Zunar live video 5th May 2019 2:30pm (Part 2)

Posted by Muzium Negeri Pulau Pinang on Sunday, 5 May 2019

The exhibition comes at the same time as Zunar’s memoir, Fight Through Cartoons, which will be available from Saturday. The book covers all the sorry details of the former prime minister Najib Razak and his government’s persecution of the cartoonist, up to an including multiple charges of sedition over Tweets about the afore-mentioned Ibrahim. CRNI’s Executive Director is quoted on the cover blurb:

“Zunar has given us something that is quite rare in the world of human rights and political cartooning. He opens the door into the anatomy of how a tyrant and demagogue uses the tools and institutions of state power to stop the critics that would point the world’s attention to their lawlessness…”

Dr. Robert Russell, Exec. Director, CRNI

Zunar laboured under a travel ban for a substantial period and has been making up for it since his change in fortune following the election of May last year. Most recently he was with Cartooning For Peace’s delegation to the African Union, Addis Ababa for the week of events preceding World Press Freedom Day.

Zunar in Adis Ababa for #WPFD2019

We congratulate Zunar on his success and look forward to seeing him in person soon. Please visit his blog for the latest on all his projects.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network International

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