Through a political commentary that astutely combines visuals with occasional words, cartoons challenge us to look at our world differently. Because of this, cartooning can be a dangerous occupation, and worldwide we have seen cartoonists harassed, censored, tortured, imprisoned, or killed for their work. For Shuddhashar’s issue on Body Politics, the Cartoonist Rights Network Internationalist, a defender of cartoonists’ right to free speech, shared several cartoons. The cartoonists featured here come from Australia, Canada, Italy, Morocco, Pakistan, South Africa, and USA. Many address global issues; some focus on local challenges; all comment on the body. We invite you to enter through these windowpanes and think.
Cartoonists:
- Jonathan Shapiro aka Zapiro’s work appears on the Daily Maverick news website as well as in numerous South African papers. Among a great many plaudits the Cape Town cartoonist is a past winner of CRNI’s Courage in Cartooning Award and most recently was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the President of France. * Cartoons by Zapiro, 1996 – 2021 Daily Maverick, Sowetan and The Times. Republished with permission – for more Zapiro cartoons visit www.zapiro.com
- Camila de la Fuente aka CamdelaFu is a Venezeulan cartoonist residing in Caracas, Mexico and is a member of CartónClub and Cartooning For Peace. In 2020 she won the youth category in the inaugural Women Cartoonists International Award.
- Cathy Wilcox is the daily cartoonist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Melbourne. She is president of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association and has illustrated a number of popular books for children and parents, including those of transgender children.
- Gianluca Costantini aka Channel Draw is Italy’s most well-known cartoonist journalist whose work has been used by a large number of news platforms and international human rights organisations. Most recently he began contributing to WikiTribune.
- Guy Badeaux aka Bado is the daly cartoonist in the French-language Le Droit newspaper, Ottawa, Canada. He is treasurer for the Association of Canadian Cartoonists and writes a long-running, popular blog about cartoons from all over the world.
- Khalid Gueddar lives in Rabat, Morocco where a cartoon depicting a member of the royal family led to a suspended prison sentence in 2010. He has continued to draw, achieving many plaudits including a Prix de l’Humor Vache at the world-famous cartoon salon in Saint-Just-le-Martel, France.
- Pedro X Molina is a regular contributor to the Confidencial news platform, Niacargua and the Counterpoint cartoon newsletter, USA. He fled his home in Nicaragua in 2018 and today teaches at Ithaca College, NY. Molina is a recipient of CRNI’s Courage in Cartooning Award and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for journalism.
- Sabir Nazar is the contributing cartoonist at the Express Tribune and The Friday Times, Lahore, Pakistan. He is president of the Pakistan Union of Cartoonists. A talented multidisciplinary artist, Nazar also produces exquisite watercolour portraits and landscapes.
