Tennessee school board bans Holocaust graphic novel ‘Maus’

From CNBC. 

A Tennessee school board has voted to remove the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” from an eighth-grade language arts curriculum due to concerns about profanity and an image of female nudity in its depiction of Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust.

Kurt Westergaard and the World's Most Notorious Cartoon

Mathias Wivel in The Comics Journal.

Kurt Westergaard by Thomas Thorhauge in the weekly Weekendavisen, July 22, 2021

In the past year, two protagonists of the cartoon controversies of the naughts passed away. 

The Dane Kurt Westergaard, who drew the infamous image of the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, died in July from long-standing illness, while the Swedish artist Lars Vilks (1946–2021), who among other things drew the face of the Prophet on the body of a dog, was killed in a car accident on 3 October, along with two police officers assigned to protect him against attacks. 

Written shortly after Westergaard’s death, this article focuses in part on his career and work, but also engages the more fundamental issues of multiculturalism, blasphemy, and free expression to which the two artists contributed.

Cartoon Movement editor on the House of Cartoons in France

 From Cartoon Movement.

The future location of the House of Press and Satirical Cartoons in Paris.

Last week, French president Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of a European House of Press and Satirical Cartoons in France. 

Good news for editorial cartooning, of course. I am of the opinion that every country should have a center for political cartooning, or a center for journalism and press freedom, with a section dedicated to political cartoons.

Happy 85th, Andy!

 

Veteran Toronto Sun cartoonist Andy Donato celebrated his 85th birthday last week. Fellow members of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists marked the occasion in caricature:

A European House of Editorial Cartooning will be created in Paris

From Patrick Chappatte's Facebook page.

Wonderful news: the European House of Editorial Cartooning will be created in Paris, as recommended by our working group. It will network energies in France (including the St-Just show) and in Europe (including the Morges Maison de la presse). Maryse Wolinski's wish is granted! 

A portrait of cartoonist Hossien Rezaye

 From Info Migrants.

Hossien Rezaye arrived in Amsterdam on one of the final flights out of Kabul. A combination of timing and luck allowed him a narrow escape from the Taliban as the extremists encroached on Afghanistan's capital. 

He was evacuated to the Netherlands with help from The Cartoon Movement – an Amsterdam-based NGO – and the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

The complete article here.

Happy New Year Cartoons

 

Pierre Pratt