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  International Day of Democracy:
  Exhibition of political caricatures

Since freedom of expression is one of the best indicators of the health of democracy, the IPU has decided to set up an exhibition of satirical drawings. Satire is a universal art but humour and sensitivities may differ from culture to culture, region to region. The archives of the publication Courrier international helped us to select drawings of caricaturists from different regions of the world.

The exhibition was launched at The House of Parliaments on 15 September 2008 at a special event on the occasion of the first International Day on Democracy.

CARICATURISTS

• Amorim (Brazil)
  Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1964, Carlos Alberto da Costa Amorim published his first drawings in 1984 in Pasquim, a humorous newspaper. His editorial cartoons, caricatures and comic strips are nowadays published in a number of newspapers and magazines. They have earned him several awards on the American continent, in Europe and in Asia.

• Bernard Bouton (France)
  Bernard Bouton (Bernie) decided to place his pencil in the service of democracy and tolerance. He considers that humour is a bridge between cultures and drawings are an interesting device for inviting the reader to reflect. He has notably published, in France, in L’Express and Le Progrès de Lyon.

• Wolfgang Horsch (Germany)
  Born in 1960, Wolfgang Horsch pursued theology studies in Heidelberg before trying his hand at press cartoons, a profession to which he dedicated himself since 1990. His editorial cartoons are published in Germany (Süddeutsche Zeitung and Handelsblatt) and in Austria (Der Standart). He is also the author of a comic strip entitled Up and down, published in several newspapers.

• Igor Kopelnitsky (USA)
  Born in Kiev in 1946, Igor Kopelnitsky pursued his studies at the University of Novosibirsk, graduating in 1970. That same year, he started publishing his cartoons as a freelancer in various Russian newspapers. Since 1990, he has been living and working in New York. Still freelancing, his works are published in The New York Times, Newsday, The National Law Journal, etc.

• Martirena (Cuba)
  Alfredo Martirena Hernández, born in Cuba in 1965, is a self-taught cartoonist. For twenty years his drawings have appeared “in all places dedicated to humour” in his country, to coin his own phrase, but also in Mexican, Nicaraguan, Uruguayan, Argentine and Spanish newspapers.… Martirena has also written the script and designed the graphics for 15 short films, illustrated books and held a dozen private exhibitions throughout the world.

• Boligán (Mexico)
  Angel Boligán Corbo, born in Havana in 1965, has been living and working in Mexico since 1992. He is the editorial cartoonist for the daily El Universal, Conozca Más magazine and El Chamuco, a humorous newspaper. In 1987, he earned the title of Professor of Plastic Arts in Havana. Boligán is the President of CARTONCLUB, an agency that brings together the foremost editorial cartoonists in Latin America. He is a member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. He has been awarded dozens of prizes throughout the world, including the Grand Prize of the World Press Cartoon in Sintra (Portugal), in 2006.

• Darío Castillejos (Mexico)
  Born in 1974 in Oaxaca, Darío Castillejos is the editorial cartoonist for El Imparcial, the state’s daily newspaper, and for El Centro, the Mexico City daily. He is also a member of the Latin American CARTONCLUB, and of the US-based Cagle Cartoons. He has been awarded several prizes, including the “Benito Juárez García” journalism award in 1997, 1999 and 2005, organized by the government of the state of Oaxaca et and the local association of journalists.

• Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland)
  Born in Karachi in 1967 to a Swiss father and a Lebanese mother, Patrick Chappatte grew up in Singapore and Geneva and lived for some time in New York. Press cartoonist for Le Temps, a Geneva daily, and Die Weltwoche, the Zurich-based weekly newspaper, he is also published regularly in the literary supplement of The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review. He also publishes comic strip reports such as “In Hezbollah country” and “New York after 9/11”.

• Plantu (France)
  Readers of the daily Le Monde have been used to seeing the drawings of Jean Plantu for over 30 years. Plantu – no doubt the most famous contemporary French press cartoonist – is also a sculptor. For several years he has devoted himself to the United Nations-sponsored Cartooning for Peace initiative, his brainchild.

• André-Philippe Côté (Canada)
  Editorial cartoonist for Quebec’s daily Le Soleil for over ten years, André-Philippe Côté also dabbles in comic strips both as a script writer and as an illustrator. He is the author of Docteur Smog, which French-speaking Canadians are familiar with.

• Damien Glez (Burkina Faso)
  Born in Nancy in 1967, he graduated from a renowned French school. Since 1991, he has been part of the team working on the satirical weekly Le Journal du Jeudi. His drawings feature regularly in European publications such as Vita Non Profit (Italy) or the news website Mediapart (France).

• Sergei Tiounine (Russian Federation)
  Born in 1942, Tiounine studied Fine Arts in Moscow. He works in the fields of graphic arts, illustrations, press cartoons and scenography. He is also the editor of a comic strip review for children in Moscow.

• Krauze (UK)
  Born in Poland, Andrzej Krauze, cartoonist, illustrator, poster artist and painter, has been living in London since 1982. His cartoons appear regularly in The Guardian and in the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. He has also designed dozens of posters for theatre and cinema.

• Arcadio (Costa Rica)
  A graduate in industrial drawing from the University of Science and Arts of Costa Rica, Arcadio’s cartoons are published in newspapers around the world. Hundreds of them are also on display in the collections of several museums, including the Bonn History Museum, the Arequipa Museum, the History Museum of Peru and the Boca Ratón Museum in Florida. He teaches Plastic Arts at the University of Costa Rica.

• Habid Haddad (Lebanon)
  Born in Lebanon in 1946, he completed his studies in his birthplace before moving to France. A self-taught artist, whose livelihood is his pencil, he has collaborated with a number of foreign reviews that are edited and printed in France. His cartoons currently appear in the Saudi daily Al Hayat. Habib Haddad has published several albums of caricatures.

• Jeff Parker (USA)
  Born in Florida, Jeff Parker’s works were published in several newspapers before he joined the Florida Today newspaper in 1992. His cartoons are distributed in a number of countries, and published by dozens of titles.

• Shahid (Pakistan)
  Shahid Mahmood was born and grew up in Pakistan. He was only fifteen years old when his first drawings were carried in The Star, the Karachi evening newspaper. Subsequently, we worked as a cartoonist for the national daily, Dawn, and for the magazine Newsline. His sombre and irreverent cartoons were best known for irritating Benazir Bhutto…

• Michel Kichka (Israel)
  Born in Liège in 1954, Michel Kichka migrated to Israel at the age of 20. There he pursued studies in graphic arts, design and illustration at the Academy of Arts in Bezalel, Jerusalem. A freelance illustrator since 1978, he draws caricatures, produces comic strips, children’s books and advertisements. Most notably, he has done “live” drawings to illustrate current affairs for the Israeli channel Tel-Ad.

• Zapiro (South Africa)
  Born in Cape Town in 1958, Jonathan Shapiro first devoted himself to a career as an architect before branching off into press cartoons. An anti-apartheid activist during his conscription (when he was imprisoned), even today he is still very much the activist, always ready to condemn in his sulphurous cartoons the attitude of South Africa’s political leaders towards HIV/AIDS prevention.

• Ajubel (Spain)
  Alberto Morales Ajubel was born in Cuba in 1956 and has been living in Spain since 1990. An artist and painter, he is also known for his satirical drawings and illustrations. He has been awarded over 60 prizes in Cuba alone and 42 in several other countries. His cartoons appear frequently in La Vanguardia and El Mundo.

• Jugoslav Vlahovic (Serbia)
  Born in 1949 in Belgrade, he graduated years later from the Academy of Applied Arts in Belgrade. His trademark dotted style has made him world-renowned. His cartoons and illustrations have appeared in several titles, notably the Belgrade weekly Nin and The New York Times. He teaches at the Faculty of Applied Arts and Design at the University of Fine Arts of Belgrade.

• Mayk (Sweden)
  Born in Poland in 1937 and a graduate of the Fine Arts Academy of Warsaw, Janusz Majewski lives and works in Sweden. His cartoons appear regularly in Rzeczpospolita, Helsingin Sanomat, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and The New York Times. His works have been displayed in a dozen private or collective collections in Sweden and Poland.

• Norío (Japan)
  Norío Yamanoi was born in Tokyo in 1947. He graduated from the Faculty of Spanish at the University of Tokyo in 1974. He started by designing and producing television advertisements. After living for several years in Paris, he returned to Japan, where he started drawing cartoons for the magazine Aera in 1988. He was awarded the Bunshun Manga Sho prize, Japan’s most prestigious award in the field of caricature.

• Rainer Hachfeld (Germany)
  Born in 1939 in Ludwigshafen, he has been living in Berlin since 1952. He was trained as a stage set artist and cartoonist from 1955 to 1959. He started doing his first press cartoons in 1965. He has held several private exhibitions, particularly in South America, and has participated in a number of collective exhibitions. Rainer Hachfeld also writes satirical plays and articles.

• Palomo (Chile)
  José Palomo Fuentes had his first cartoons published in Chilean reviews from a very tender age. He belongs to the generation of great cartoonists such as Hervi, the Vivanco brothers, and De la Barra, with whom he founded in the late 1970s the first cooperative of independent cartoonists and La Chiva, the cult review of Latin American comic strips. Forced into exile in Mexico in 1973, Palomo and his pencil are behind El Cuarto Reich (The Fourth Reich) comic strip. Palomo has lived in Mexico ever since and his cartoons have been published in the Mexican, Latin American and international press. He also produces children’s books, including Matías y el pastel de fresas (Matías and the strawberry cake) and the literary work entitled Literatos, "a treatise on animals and other treasures from the world literary heritage".

• Stephff (Thailand)
  Stéphane Perray, a 44-year old Frenchman, started his career as a press photographer in the Far East before branching off into press cartoons. Based in Bangkok, he works and has worked for a number of newspapers on the five continents, most notably the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, Gulf Daily News in Dubai, The Kuwait Times, The Indonesian Observer, Tages Anzeiger in Switzerland, The International Herald Tribune, Courrier international in Paris, Thailand’s The Nation, Indonesia’s Jakarta Post and the China Daily.

• Ares (Cuba)
  Arístides Esteban Hernández Guerrero, born in Havana in 1963, graduated with a degree in medicine and another in psychiatry before he discovered his talent for drawing. In addition to his cartoons, published in Cuba and throughout the world, he has also produced several illustrations and children’s books. He has also directed short animated films. In 1994, Witty World Magazine included him in its list of best press cartoonists in the world.

• Kazanevsky (Ukraine)
  Born in 1950 in Lebedine, Ukraine, Vladimir Kazanevsky holds a degree in cosmic radiation physics. A freelance cartoonist and writer, he has won over 200 international press cartoon awards in over 40 countries.

• Pavel (Romania)
  Here is a cartoonist with a rather unusual background: Pavel Constantin worked in the aviation industry, taught and even played football … until he managed to combine all of those skills into his current vocation - a press cartoonist.

• Falco (Cuba)
  Alex Falco lives and works in Cuba. An illustrator and graphic designer, his drawings are regularly published in Juventud Rebelde, the Cuban newspaper for young people.