‘Women In History’ Cartoon Exhibition
February 22, 2019 in Events, General, News
Poster cartoon by © The Surreal MCoy
The PCO is putting on an exhibition in collaboration with Idea Store at Canary Wharf to tie in with Women’s History Month. ‘Women In History’ is an exhibition of cartoons and caricatures based loosely around the theme and also looking more widely at issues affecting women.
Our patron Sandi Toksvig writes:
“Cave paintings were really the first cartoons. The latest analysis of them suggest they were done by women. Perfect! Let’s celebrate Women’s History month with cartoons done by female artists following in the footsteps of the very first art.”
Cartoon by © Sarah Boyce
The show has been curated by PCO committee members The Surreal McCoy and Sarah Boyce (office admin by Glenda Marshall).
Sarah writes:
“We are delighted that Idea Store has given us this space to showcase the work of women cartoonists. It’s been a tough job narrowing down the long list to those that will be on display. We wanted to get a broad range of voices and styles in the exhibition and make sure as many women cartoonists as possible got a chance to participate. Hopefully visitors will enjoy the talent, diversity and humour on display.”
‘Victoria Victorious’ by © Cathy Simpson
Women’s History Month started in schools in California in 1978 to enhance understanding of all women’s contributions to history and society. It centres around International Women’s Day, originally celebrated in 1911 and now a fixture on 8th March. Women’s History Month is now an annual declared month in the UK, USA, Australia and Canada.
Illustration by © Kate Charlesworth
The show has contributions from 20 cartoonists including international submissions from Egypt, Greece and New Zealand.
Isadora Duncan by Athens based cartoonist © Maria Tzaboura
Those taking part are:
Afraa Alyousef, Sally Artz, Ros Asquith, Sarah Boyce, Kate Charlesworth, Maddie Dai, Tat Effby, Jacky Fleming, Grizelda, Rebecca Hendin, KJ Lamb, Rasha Mahdi, Lorna Miller, Lou McKeever, Danny Noble, Chichi Parish, Martha Richler, Cathy Simpson, The Surreal McCoy and Maria Tzaboura.
Malala Yousafzai with her father by © Rebecca Hendin
The exhibition runs throughout March at:
Idea Store Canary Wharf, Churchill Place, London, E14 5RB.
We’ll be showing many more of the cartoons and drawings from the show on our social media platforms over the next few weeks.
All artwork on display will be available for purchase with 10% of the sales going to Solace Women’s Aid
Cartoon by © Maddie Dai
We’re hoping to put on more exhibitions and events in partnership with Idea Store later in the year.
PCOer and Bloghorn contributor 
Latest Blog
by Blog Team
A degree of ignorance about drawing
June 17, 2011 in Comment, General, News
It is more acceptable in the cultures of Japan, the US and across Europe to consider the narrative techniques and visual artistry employed by commercial artists as a powerful form for business and personal communication as well as entertainment and teaching.
The best single piece of evidence we offer is the attitude of the UK arts funding body – The Arts Council – towards the national Cartoon Museum* which despite its popularity, and the long history of the form in the UK , receives no central funding. We wrote about this here.
Of course, there are some exceptions in this country – political cartooning, for example, tends to receive grudging respect for its obviously satirical and “real-world” relevance. But all too often, the “cartoon” and “comic” are used here as catch-all terms for anything that is unsophisticated, childish or tacky.
Tom Harris MP on Dundee Cartoon and Comic Course @ procartoonists.org
Tom Harris speaking about the establishment of a one-year Postgraduate degre in study of Visual Communication at the University of Dundee. – The home of publishers DC Thomson
Another political figure, the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, did exactly that last week. Criticising the Daily Mail, he described the paper as a “sexist, racist, bigoted comic cartoon strip”(Bloghorn is only interested in the second half of that assertion, which we feel is a little unfair).
Academic appreciation of cartooning is, in fact, not new: since 1973, the University of Kent has hosted the British Cartoon Archive, a collection of more than 150,000 pieces intended to encourage the study and appreciation of cartoon art, including comic strips. The Cartoon Archive is freely open to those wishing to carry out research, and is actively involved in promoting the art form – often in collaboration with the national Cartoon Museum, the PCO and its fellow cartoonists organisations, the BCA and the CCGB.
Bloghorn is made by Matthew Buck, Royston Robertson, Alex Hughes and Rob Murray on behalf of the UK Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation
* We say please consider becoming a member to help fund them
Tags: best British cartoonists, Bloghorn, caricature, cartoon, Cartoon Museum, comics, Dundee, graphic narrative, illustration, PCO, Postgraduate degree, professional cartoonists, Professional Cartoonists Organisation, Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival 4 Comments »