The UN has launched a special exhibit of political cartoons in Rome to raise awareness of human rights issues, war, hunger and religious extremism.
The 40-plus editorial cartoons, unveiled in Rome's Auditorium on Monday, will travel in the new year to Jerusalem, Berlin, Istanbul and Wellington, New Zealand. Monday was the UN International Day for Human Rights.
A cartoon by Italian cartoonist Vauro shows the Three Wise Men climbing a wall topped with barbed wire to reach Bethlehem. The caption reads,: 'Come on guys, we're almost there.'
(Andrew Medichini/Associated Press)
"We make drawings without knowing that we practise human rights every day," noted Jean Plantu, a cartoonist with French newspaper Le Monde and one of the organizers of the show, called Sketching Human Rights.Â
"My first language is not English, it is not French. My first language is the drawing."
Plantu's cartoon features a young woman provocatively showing her lingerie who is transformed in a few sketches into someone veiled and crying.
The show's poster features a cartoon of a man tied to a chair, the work of Iranian illustrator Hassan Karimzadeh. Plantu said the cartoonist was pressured not to present his work in Rome. Iranian officials have refused to comment on the matter.
Other cartoons include a sketch of the three Magi, the wise men who brought gifts to the infant Christ in the Bible, climbing a wall topped with barbed wire to reach Bethlehem. There are cartoons about the repression of monks in Myanmar and about the mass deaths in Darfur, Sudan.
Some of the cartoons appear on video. One shows a man holding a banner — "Yankee Go Home" — while next to him a U.S. soldier holds a similar banner reading: "We Want To Go Home."
Cartoon exhibits aren't new to the UN. Previous shows have focused on environmental or AIDS issues.
"Cartoons are minimally verbal and they're mostly graphic, so they can go over language borders and they are effective," said U.S. cartoonist Jeff Danziger, whose work is also in the exhibit.
With files from the Associated PressMore Art & Design Headlines »
- France racing to save Lascaux cave paintings from fungus
- The French government is taking emergency action to rescue the celebrated cave paintings of the Lascaux caverns from a fungus that threatens to destroy the ancient works of art.
- Israel, France create exhibit of unclaimed Nazi-looted art
- The Israel Museum in Jerusalem plans an exhibit in February of more than 50 drawings and paintings stolen from France by the Germans during the Second World War and never reclaimed.
- Russian-British art exhibition feud settled with new UK law
- Britain and Russia settled a politically tinged dispute about art Monday, with Moscow saying it will grant permission to send Russian masterpieces for a major exhibition in London now that Britain has protected the works from seizure.
- Smithsonian director of Indian museum spends $250,000 on travel
- The former director of the U.S. National Museum of the American Indian spent more than a quarter of a million dollars on first-class travel in a four-year period, Smithsonian officials have confirmed.
- U.S. judge rules Nazi-looted painting belongs to Max Stern estate
- A U.S. federal judge has ruled against a German baroness who spirited a painting out of the U.S. to prevent it from being claimed by the estate of Montreal art dealer Max Stern.
More Arts Headlines »
- Stinky Cheese man named U.S. kids' books ambassador
- Jon Scieszka, author of such bestselling picture books as The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, has been named the ambassador for children's books in the U.S.
- Expect pickets at Golden Globes, striking writers say
- The Writers Guild of America is saying no deal to Golden Globe Awards organizers, who had hoped to negotiate a ceremony without a picket line.
- Sean Penn to head Cannes festival jury
- American actor and director Sean Penn will head the awards jury at the Cannes Film Festival this year, organizers announced Thursday.
- Artists face charges over fake nuclear blast on Czech TV
- A group of Czech artists who staged a fake nuclear blast over national television will be sent to criminal trial, a state prosecutor said Thursday.
- CTV buys U.S. series Mad Men
- Private broadcaster CTV has added to its slate of U.S.-produced shows with the purchase of the Golden Globe-nominated series Mad Men.
Arts Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window
