A cartoon is worth a thousand words
On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Cartooning for Peace, an international network of committed press cartoonists, makes a bold critique of the failure of modern societies to respect human rights in the exposition “Enjeux humains” in Liège.
Imagine the life in a world where has been promised freedom of opinion and expression, an adequate standard of living to ensure good health, gender equality, international commitment to stop wars in order to live in peace, participation in the management of public affairs, the right to migrate to any country, to education, to social and economic justice and to privacy, among other rights.
However, then there can be found conflicts and wars shaking the world, inequalities between women and men in many areas, global warming that reduces human rights, repatriation of asylum seekers, poverty, media censorship and jailing of journalists, arms sales and increased violence or imprisonment of protesters calling for more democracy in their authoritarian countries. All these issues are dealt with in the exhibition. Is this the world that humans want? Amnesty International, the global human rights movement that supports this exhibition, asks the public: “Will the challenges of the environment, global warming, refugees, wealth distribution and even the possible collapse of modern civilisation trigger a new awareness?”.
The exhibition shows the public the importance of caricatures in the press, as the acid criticisms of their drawings are an invitation to awaken consciences and are proof of the plurality of cultures and opinions. Moreover, in view of the controversies and disasters experienced with cases such as the cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005 or in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015, it is necessary to vindicate article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
Their cartoons, in addition to reporting on the latest news around the world, use humour to fight for respect for cultures and freedoms. Reporting for freedom, that’s what they do. And they show it to us in a special space: La Cité Miroir. This cultural space in Liège is housed in a former sports centre, so it is the structure of a swimming pool that watches over the 100 drawings. In this way, the reality contained in the strokes goes beyond the paper, giving us a bath in cold water.
Among the topics covered, it is surprising that issues as difficult to explain as the effects of war are so clearly summarised in these drawings (so does a picture worth a thousand words?). And always in a humorous but humanising tone, with the aim of drawing attention to the cartoon in order to spread the denunciation of extremism, excesses and hatred. For example, the cartoon explaining the exile of the Ukrainian population in the face of the war initiated by Putin is striking, in which the inhabitants are depicted as silhouettes of shooting practice, at the same time targets of a weapon loaded by the Kremlin, represented by one of the towers with a star.
In addition to the war, and it was not only about Ukraine, but also about Palestine and Israel, Sudan, Syria and the arms trade in Africa, another important issue was freedom of the press. Under the manipulation and purchase of media and threats to journalists there is no information. Besides cartoons condemning regimes such as Erdogan’s authoritarian Turkey, you can find a panel with news related to the topic, which is interesting to learn more about this topic.
Finally, we must highlight the section on climate change. According to the World Health Organization, 250.000 additional deaths will occur due to climate change and its effects between 2030 and 2050. What’s more, 26.4 million people have had to move to the interior of the country, each year since 2008, due to natural disasters. But in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights there is not an article that refers to the defense of the ecosystem and how it determines human beings.
Then, having a right does not mean that you can exercise it in complete freedom. And does not mean that the entire world population enjoys this right: poverty promoted by rich Western countries, access to education only to people with resources, rigged elections, threats and pressure, and so on. Therefore, this exhibition encourages us not to stand idly by and demonstrate for human rights.