Fumetto – Symposium on Censorship

We live in strange times and the concept of censorship – so clear and obvious only a short time ago – is now being twisted and appropriated by fringe groups for their own needs. Sure, not every voice deserves to be heard but who deserves to be silenced and who will decide? In a joke, a cartoon, a drawing, a performance power and its subjects meet for a brief moment on equal terms. That’s the agreement. The artist has to be aware how to use his or her power, no excuse is acceptable. Avoiding banality as much as avoiding sadness. But for power to silence one person is to silence a multitude. As Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart said at his trial: Cartoonists are like canaries in a coal mine – when they fall silent, you know politics are getting toxic.
Censorship comes in many forms, from self-censorship to online character assassination, from litigation to imprisonment, from intimidation to the threat and use of blunt violence. How do artists think about boundaries and what is the brave and what is the foolish thing to do?
On 26th March, the speakers report from personal experience with censorship and will share their reactions and the strategies they developed. With Patrick Chappatte (CH) cartoonist and comic journalist, Martin Rowson (GB) cartoonist at The Guardian, Ilan Manouach (GR) artist, curator and researcher, Xavier Löwenthal (BE) author and publisher, Barış Uygur (TUR) publisher and cartoonist, Powerpaola (ECU/COL/ARG) comic-artist and activist.
Moderator: Marcy Goldberg
Event held in English, register free of charge via Fumetto.