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October 23, 2006
Political Cartoonists Talk Shop at U.N.
Editor & Publisher and AP reported last week on a group of cartoonists -- including Mike Luckovich and Ann Telnaes -- who spoke at the United Nations.
Political cartoonists discussed the power of their pens and brushes at the United Nations on Oct. 16 and the pressures they face -- highlighted by the Muslim outrage over a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.
Cartoons "can encourage us to look critically at ourselves, and increase our empathy for the sufferings and frustration of others," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in opening remarks at the gathering. "But they can also do the opposite. They have, in short, a big responsibility."
But they all agreed they must pay attention to the current political climate.
"It is a new challenge for us," he said.
Carsten Graabaek said he accepted "with some trepidation" the invitation to speak Monday as one of the 40 Danish cartoonists originally contacted by the newspaper to depict the Prophet Muhammad.
"I think cartooning is about what goes on on Earth and freedom of speech is a worldly affair, a secular affair, whereas the prophet and respect for the prophet and the ban on drawing or painting his likeness is a spiritual matter," Graabaek said.
"I don't think you should incite people, just to incite them," he said, "and I think that's what the Danish cartoonists, or editors, did."
ComicsDC, a comics blog, reported that webcasts of at least three sessions are still available for viewing. "There's a morning and afternoon session and a press conference with Plantu, the French cartoonist. ... You can see Ann Telnaes making remarks at the afternoon session at 1:14:50 for example." http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2006/10/ann-telnaes-at-united-nations.html
And The Comics Reporter had a more critical look at the whole thing:
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cr_week_in_review102206/
Sources: AP, E&P, The Comics Reporter