Congratulations to our friends at Cartoonists Rights Network International for winning the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award for CAMPAIGNING.
The impressive awards ceremony was held in London last Thursday evening and hosted by comedian Nish Kumar.
Index on Censorship described CRNI as “a small organisation with a big impact: monitoring threats and abuses against editorial cartoonists worldwide. It is a lifeline for cartoonists in danger across the world.”
CRNI Deputy Executive Director Terry Anderson after accepting the award.
In his speech Terry Anderson said: “Like virtually no other profession the cartoonist makes it their business to remind the citizenry that the emperor is naked.”
Terry kindly mentioned the support they have had from Procartoonists. Many of our members have contributed to campaigns for the likes of Zunar, Ramón Nsé Esono Ebalé, Free Turkey Media and of course drawn fish for Eaten Fish.
Terry also praised International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) who offer refuge to writers, journalists and artists at risk of persecution. They’d been instrumental in the release of Eaten Fish.
The full speech can be seen here.
Ali Dorani (Eaten Fish) with Terry Anderson
Two cartoonists who benefited from CRNI backing had flown in specially to attend the awards. Zunar, a cartoonist who faced 43 years in prison for criticising the Malaysian government and Ali Dorani, AKA Eaten Fish, the Iranian cartoonist who spent four years interned in Australian-run Manus Island refugee internment camp.
Painting by © Zehra Doğan
All the award winners were incredible as indeed were all the nominees. I was particularly taken with the story of Kurdish artist and journalist Zehra Doğan. She has only recently been released from a Turkish prison after being jailed for painting the destruction of a town in Turkey’s Kurdish region. When in prison she wasn’t allowed to have artists’ materials so drew on newspapers or old milk cartons using crushed fruit, herbs and even blood as paint with bird feathers to draw. Zehra won the award in the ARTS category.
One of the wonderful award cartoons by © Doaa el-Adl.
Winners were presented with cartoons especially drawn by Egyptian cartoonist Doaa el-Adl.
All the winners (L to R) Carolina Botero Cabrera, executive director of ‘Fundación Karisma’, DIGITAL ACTIVISM winner; JOURNALISM winner Mimi Mefo; Terry Anderson of CAMPAIGNING winner CRNI and ARTS winner Zehra Doğan. Photo © Elina Kansikas for Index on Censorship
Details of all the winners can be seen here.
For anyone interested in supporting Index on Censorship their CEO Jodie Ginsberg launched ‘The 1972 Club’ a membership scheme that funds their work as well as giving you great benefits.
Photo via © Rachael Jolley
Terry doing some painting and decorating on the wall at the new Index on Censorship office earlier in the day.
Latest Blog
by Matthew Buck
Cartoonists and freedom of speech
September 12, 2012 in Comment, General, News
Protest in Mumbai about the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi. Picture from The Hindu newspaper @ Procartoonists.org
The late editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette described the job of the cartoonist as follows:
In his home country of the United States, the first amendment to the national constitution famously guarantees this right. It also does in India, one of the world’s other great democracies.
Of course, national jurisdictions vary in how they apply their laws, but Marlette’s assertion notes a role that editorial cartoonists tend to fulfil wherever and however they deliver their work.
This is why the news from India about the arrest for sedition of the Indian cartoonist Aseem Trivedi is worrying. Trivedi is a campaigner against corruption who works digitally and deploys social-media distribution tools that are principally made by US corporations.
We include the specific cartoon that brought his arrest below (the translation on the plinth is “Corruption alone triumphs”, a parody of the original text.) Trivedi’s drawings also frequently visually reference national Indian symbols and it seems that it is the offence derived from this that triggered his original arrest.
Trivedi corruption cartoon @ Procartoonists.org
It appears this morning that Trivedi is now to be released on bail, but as the conflict between national jurisdictions and pervasive digital distribution of words and pictures continues we can expect to see more of this sort of event even inside what is sometimes described as the “largest democracy in the world”.
We’d like to encourage all friends of cartoonists to note the petition organised here on behalf of Trivedi. Many of our members have already signed it.
If you have anything to add to our knowledge of this please do use the comments facility below. We expect to be returning to this subject.
Update: 14th September 2012. The Indian High Court has according to this report in The Hindu newspaper rebuked the police for the arrest of Trivedi.
Our friends at English Pen have different information and a drawing about the issue.
Updated: 14th October 2012. The BBC reports charges against Aseem Trivedi have been dropped.
Tags: Aseem Trivedi, best British cartoonists, Doug Marlette, freedom of speech, india, Procartoonists.org, USA 1 Comment »