Like clean-up fish: a conversation with the ECA cartoonists
While the jury of the European Cartoon Award is busy selecting the winner and runners-up for this year’s edition, we asked some questions to the ECA 2020’s shortlisted cartoonist.
, , Costel Patrascan,
1) How did you become a cartoonist?
Halit: I was actually a painter. I was living my life drawing oil paints, watercolors, still lifes or portraits. One day I saw a poster and my life changed. That poster was the promotional poster of a cartoon competition. I participated in this competition and won an award. That’s how I stepped into the world of cartoons, albeit by chance.
Costel: I started making caricatures in 1989, immediately after the Romanian Revolution, when the communist regime fell. All the people had at that moment an irrepressible feeling of freedom of expression, most Romanians wanted to say something… I took my chance to make my expression public, in this particular graphic way, in newspapers. And I have never stopped since!
2) Why are political cartoons important?
Costel: I believe that the measure of a cartoonist is given by the importance of the topics he approaches, and the political caricature is one of the most important! Why? Because political decisions, especially in my country, have an immediate impact on our lives, and too many times in the wrong way… A cartoonist must be careful and react, with his means, when things do not work properly. I often compare the work of a cartoonist with that of a clean-up fish in an aquarium, that does something useful for its environment.
Hajo: Cartoons won’t overthrow governments, or change the opinions of a radical group or individual. They will, however, give people a handle for their beliefs. I can therefore empower a person or group, or deepen a thought.
Marco: Political cartoons are important because they really are a form of journalistic commentary, they are like an editorial, but using images. Cartoons can be without words (only with a graphic metaphor), or with a caption or a balloon, but their strength is always the conceptual and visual synthesis. There lies their strength, in their ability to make people smile and think at the same time, leaving a mark in the mind and the eyes of the reader.
3) Why do you think it is important to award cartoonists?
Bo: to raise awareness on a profession that is under severe pressure from totalitarian thinking in any shape and form. Moreover, on a personal level, it is obviously a great honor to be presented alongside fellow European Press laureates.
Costel: Cartoonists are a rare species because this profession must meet a number of qualities hard to find in one person: graphic talent, humor, conciseness, being informed, civic courage, and being aware of the status of moralizer a cartoonist has. That’s why there are few cartoonists… Why should cartoonists be awarded? Because civic courage must be appreciated and stimulated. Speaking truth at any cost has become such a rare attitude in the conformist society in which we live today.
“I often compare the work of a cartoonist with that of a clean-up fish in an aquarium, that does something useful for its environment.”
Marco: I think it’s important to award cartoonists because they carry out critical and informative work by helping people to understand the facts and see them in their harsh reality, with the therapeutic help of a smile. In many countries, the work of cartoonists does not offer easy earning opportunities and in many others, they risk their liberty or life. I believe it’s a duty to protect and defend the work and lives of all these authors.
The drama of plastic pollution, by Agim Sulaj
4) What is the most frustrating thing for a cartoonist?
Claudio: I usually say that I am very afraid of self-censorship. Brazil is reliving, with the Jair Bolsonaro government, after the period of the military dictatorship (1964-1985), a climate of terror: we again have a lot of disrespect, intimidation, and disproportionate persecution of journalists (cartoonists) and freedom of the press and expression.
Halit: Cartoons represent freedom, courage, intelligence, tolerance etc. Despite this, many cartoons are censored in many countries, and their cartoonists become open targets. Personally, many of my cartoons were censored. I was threatened many times because of the cartoons I drew. This is quite frustrating. But I did not give up, I continue to draw.
Another frustrating issue is copyright infringement. Our works are often used without our knowledge and permission. After all, cartoonists are also workers and labor has a price. It is very frustrating to have our works stolen.
Hajo: The most frustrating thing for a cartoonist is to be misunderstood by the public. It’s frustrating because you might think it’s the readers’ fault, but it comes down to the fact the cartoon is just not clear in its message.
World politics, by Halit
5) Share one secret tip for young aspiring cartoonists.
Claudio: Practice, practice, and practice drawing, without caring so much about criticism. Thoroughly research the styles of classic and avant-garde painting artists and the most outstanding cartoonists over the centuries.
Bo: Ask questions – your audience will answer them.
Cartooning in the USA: a conversation with Marty Two Bulls Sr.
A few days after the Pulitzer Prize announced its awards, deciding not to assign one in the Cartooning category, we had the pleasure to interview one of the finalists, Marty Two Bulls Sr.
Marty is an Oglala Lakota originally from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He started drawing editorial cartoons at his high school newspaper, and that hobby became a profession. His cartoons are now distributed in various newspapers in the US, taking on themes related to the Native American community, a group that has been persecuted and marginalized by the dominant culture.
Marty, why did you become an editorial cartoonist?
I’m an artist, that basically means I’m working all the time. I draw all the time. When I was in high school I thought that working on the school newspaper was a great way to avoid English classes. But I didn’t want to write stories. So I did graphics and editorial cartoons. Never knowing I would do this as a profession.
We know that cartoons spread fast and often have a strong impact on the audience. What do you think they add to the public discourse?
I worked in daily newspapers and wrote editorials. I noticed nobody read them, but they do read and remember cartoons. It is a great way to get the readership to think and maybe form an opinion on topics that directly or indirectly affect their lives.
But being a cartoonist can be tough. What are the main challenges of your profession?
Finding outlets in newspapers, it seems cartoons are the first thing cut from budgets as the medium flounders.
“The medium is adapting and growing. Into what, when, and how, is anybody’s guess. One thing for sure is we will not be going away.”
That’s true. The number of cartoonists in the US shrank from more than 2000 staff cartoonists on the eve of the 20th century to around 40 nowadays! What do you think the function of awards is in this? Can they help?
They can. They offer recognition. Cartoonists work in isolation so it is nice to see that our work is appreciated. Also monetary. We are business people and the awards bring attention to our product.
And how did you feel about the Pulitzer Prize decision of not awarding cartoonists this year?
The decision on indecision. I think they were caught up in their own rules and in the confusion could not reach a consensus.
Why so?
The problem is that we are not judged by our peers. Sure there were cartoonists on the selection committee but the board was made up of writers and scholars. Many on the board came up the ranks in newspapers. These are the people young cartoonists rallied against to get their stuff printed. Many times an editor shot down an idea or made suggestions that killed the cartoon in the cradle. My big worry is that in the future Pulitzer contestants will only submit work that appeals to the board’s humor. Ironic latte jokes for instance.
How will the Pulitzer’s decision impact the world of editorial cartoonists?
Political cartoonists will always find a platform. We in the US are not valued but that is no big deal. In other countries our contemporaries are arrested and murdered. We write and draw these cartoons in the hopes that a small grain of truth will grow into something bigger.
How do you see your profession evolving?
We are in the middle of the computer age. The medium is adapting and growing. Into what, and how, is anybody’s guess. But one thing is for sure: we cartoonists will not go away.