The attacks on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January threw a global spotlight on the challenges faced by cartoonists worldwide. Index has since its earliest days reported on the persecution of satirists. As part of our work in celebrating as well as defending free expression, Index has this year asked cartoonists to reflect on the past year for free expression in their own way.
South America |
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Xavier Bonilla (Bonil)EcuadorBonil has been criticising Ecuador’s political leaders in his cartoons for 30 years. Regularly denounced, threatened and fined, Bonil has earned the title “the pursued cartoonist”. @bonilcaricatura |
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North America |
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Kevin Kallaugher (Kal)United StatesUS artist Kal spent 10 years drawing cartoons in London before returning home, where he continues to work. He has won numerous awards and his cartoons have been featured in more than 100 publications around the globe. @kaltoons | web |
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Signe Wilkinson (Signe)United StatesIn 1992, Signe became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, and she has since won several other awards for her work. She comments on topical political issues and is best known for her daily cartoons in The Philadelphia Daily News. @SigneWilk | Facebook |
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Europe |
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Jean Plantureux (Plantu)FrancePlantu, the chief cartoonist for France’s Le Monde, is co-founder of Cartooning for Peace. Since the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Plantu has had a constant security detail but says he intends to continue to draw. @plantu | web |
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Martin RowsonUnited KingdomPolitical satirist Martin Rowson contributes cartoons to The Guardian and the Daily Mirror as well as Index on Censorship magazine. His work has earned him several awards, as well as an official appointment as Cartoonist Laureate of London in 2001. @MartinRowson |
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Middle East |
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Ali FarzatSyriaFormer Index arts award winner Ali Farzat came to global attention in 2011, when he was pulled from his car and beaten by Syrian security forces who broke both his hands. Farzat recently worked for Kuwaiti Newspaper Al-Watan, which has been closed by authorities after criticising the government. |
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Doaa El AdlEgyptDoaa El Adl has been an award-winning cartoonist for prominent Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm since 2008. She has faced threats and charges of blasphemy for her illustrations. @doaaeladl |
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Asia |
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Zulkiflee Anwar Haque (Zunar)Malaysia“Why pinch when you can punch?!” says Zunar, believing the best way to make a political impact is to criticise his country’s powerful leaders as harshly as possible. The Malaysian government has banned much of Zunar’s work and repeatedly subjected him to raids, arrest and detainment. Zunar continues undeterred, despite two arrests in 2015 already. @zunarkartunis | web |
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Australia |
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David RoweAustraliaAward-winning cartoonist David Rowe has worked as an editorial artist for the Australian Financial Review for 22 years. Rowe’s bright and colorful watercolors are famously merciless. He is a three-time winner of the Stanley Award for Australia’s Cartoonist of the Year. @roweafr |
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Africa |
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Damien Glez (Glez)Burkina FasoGlez’s cartoons regularly appear in publications spanning three continents, including Le Journal du Jeudi, for which he is the delegated director of publication, and the satirical Le Marabout, which he co-created. He writes his own comic strip called Divine Comedy. @DamienGlez | web |
