FrontPageMagazine has an article up by cartoonist Daryl Cagle, who discusses a recent cultural exchange trip to China, where he talked to groups of college students about his own cartooning and about being an editorial cartoonist in America. As anyone who follows Cagle and his website might expect he uses the Chinese visit to illustrate the differences not only in the freedoms of the media and expression (a reference to the student who stood in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square drew a lot of murmurs – many present had never even seen that image) but also of what the students (depressingly from my perspective) find acceptable in terms of state censorship:
“The best measure of political freedom is political cartoons and whether cartoonists are allowed to draw their own leaders. Chinese cartoonists almost never draw their leaders, and my Bush-bashing cartoons seemed very foreign to Chinese audiences, who seemed genuinely concerned for my safety; they thought I was in danger from the politicians I lampooned. The questions were the same, wherever I went:
Q: Do your cartoons hurt your personal relationships with the politicians you draw?
A: No, I don’t have personal relationships with the people I draw.
Q: Do you worry that your drawings will hurt the reputation of someone you have drawn?
A: No, if one of my cartoons hurts the reputation of a politician that I am criticizing, then I am pleased. (Sometimes the crowd murmurs when I say this. It doesn’t seem to be what they expect me to say.)”
(One of Daryl’s cartoons that I doubt the Chinese audience would have appreciated as the Dalai Lama blows out the Olympic torch, borrowed from Caglecartoons.com and (c) Daryl Cagle)
And since we’re on the subject of China and freedom of expression, this is a photo I took back in March, which riffs on the Tiananmen Square iconography; yes, I know this isn’t a cartoon, but it seems to relate well to the above and to be honest I think this would have made a great editorial cartoon. Saint John’s church on Princes Street, often posts up some intriguing artwork commenting on social, moral and political events (I particularly liked one they featured previously with Blair in statesman-like pose at a lectern explaining black is white) – in this case they took the (in)famous Tiananmen imagery but replaced the student with a Buddhist monk, while the runner with the Olympic flame is behind the tank. The Chinese consulate in the city made a complaint and then a few days after I took this the artwork was mysteriously vandalised, but whoever thought showing their displeasure at artists using their freedom to make a comment on international events by disfiguring the painting was a good idea must have kicked themselves afterwards because it propelled the story into the broadsheet Scottish press, ensuring the image was shown to a far wider audience. Which serves whoever tried to ruin it right.
Thu, Jul 3, 2008
Comics and cartoons