story book of cartoon museums successes

Contents

Preface ...................................................................................................................... 3

I’ll bring the cake ....................................................................................................... 5

With Atila and after Atila ............................................................................................. 6

Azerbaijan Cartoon ..................................................................................................... 8

Cartoon Program for TV ............................................................................................. 10

An Educational Success Story - one of many ................................................................ 12

Stories about getting connected: the Gabrovo Biennal .................................................. 13

Hi Smiley Thought .................................................................................................... 16

The International Forum of Visual Humour Karikaturum – the brand of Surgut City ........... 18

The Story of Tabriz Cartoon Museum .......................................................................... 21

Museum of Cartoon Art and Caricature in Warsaw ........................................................ 22

Connecting through cartoons in Serbia ........................................................................ 24

The Egyptian Caricature Museum ................................................................................ 27

Once Upon a Toon… .................................................................................................. 30

Humour as lever to the Museum work… ....................................................................... 34

Cartoons and local history ......................................................................................... 35

Exhibition Instant Kama, drawings and movies of Kamagurka ........................................ 37

Connecting through cartoons success stories |

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Preface The 4th Cartoon Museum Conference is all about ‘Connecting through Cartoons’.

We did ask the different museums to share their personal success stories about the theme ‘connecting through cartoons’. What were moments, in the history of their cartoon museum, they felt the museum made a difference? Moments they felt there was a real connection with the public or with cartoonists, or with the museum team, etc.

All m useums se nt u s s tories a bout m oments that w ere significant, m eaningful, m utually empowering or particularly effective in terms of achieved results. Results that really made them proud.

Each story is very different, but we are sure that they all can be very inspiring to all of us and that it can help to bring some more ‘connectivity’ in our cartoon museums and in our collaboration with each other.

Enjoy reading it!


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I’ll bring the cake If you had already the occasion to read about the European Cartoon Center or you did hear a presentation about it, you will know that one of the aims of the ECC is not to be a dull museum b ut t o b e a n a ctive c enter, a h ome for cartoonists a nd c artoon l overs. The ECC wants to be an op en org anization where p eople really f eel a t h ome. This is only possible through the people who work in the ECC. The ECC is conducted by a team of at about 15 people, all volunteers, from different ages, some of them where there from the beginning (in 1979) of the Euro-Kartoenale, others came later. Every team member is giving the best he or she can, using his or her own talent, spending the time that is available at that moment.

It s eems t hat w orking o n a v oluntary b asis i s a r ecipe f or a successful co nnection w ith others. T he ECC-team is t here b ecause t hey l ike t o b e t here, t o h ave f un, t o b e a mong friends, to work hard and to celebrate successes, to have some amazing international contacts, to professionalize themselves … simply because they share a passion and a dream for the ECC. That results in a warm authentic welcome and a real interest in the cartoonists and cartoon lovers we meet. And so it often leads to great friendships.

If your name is Zlatkovsky, Gatto, Mordillo … or you are a young starting local cartoonist, we really treat you all the same way. We like to prepare informal lunches and dinners for you, because these occasions, that really help to connect which each other, are often more fun than expensive restaurants. We take you on trips in our beautiful country (Ghent, Brussels, Bruges, Ypres, …), and try to make you feel at home.

The cartoonist Vangelis Pavlidis wrote on his blog, after his visit to the ECC:

… But, more remarkable is the contribution of quite a number of volunteers – Saskia, Fernand, Dominique, Paul and others whose names I do not remember but whose happy faces and hospitality I will never forget. They are men and women of every age and occupation that have embraced this effort, cartoonists themselves some of them and several even from nearby towns. They all work on a voluntary basis and they gain nothing more than the satisfaction of contributing to this project.

When we contacted a historical research organization to do some research for us about the history of Belgian cartoons, we got this prompt reply: … it would be an honor to work with the ECC that is known as a very warm organization.

And when Pol Leurs came to the opening ceremony of the exhibition of Ross Thomson, we did ask him to stay for the barbeque the next day. We got a mail back from his wife Gaby who s aid: ‘I’ll br ing the c ake!’. Sh e made a de licious red w ine c ake for d essert ( a f amily recipe), because the ECC-team is as family.

So you see that connecting through cartoons is all about connecting people and hearts. We really hope you can experience this feeling during your s tay i n K ruishoutem, that you will feel at home and that you become part of the big ECC-family.

Connect through sharing passion and dream, to open your heart


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With Atila and after Atila When I got married to Atila Ozer in 1975, I did not know anything about cartoons. We were both working. At the evening, he was conducting research on cartoons, reading books and drawing and drawing. I was surprised and a little bit jealous to see his passion for cartoons. University, academic research, classes, exams and homework were taking all of his time. In time, I also started to get interested in cartoons and I got to know some of the cartoonists. I decided t o h elp h im d uring my free time after school. I became the secretary: copying paperwork, wrapping and mailing the cartoons for competitions. During all those years we spent t ogether, w ere f illed with cartoons and n umerous f riends. We v isited m useums, attended cartoon meetings, festivals and symposiums. I was a lso t ied to cartoons just like him. We were buying the newly released books and were immediately examining them. He was always thinking, planning things he could do for cartoon art and putting them in order.

In 1983 he established the first Cartoon Student Club in Turkish Universities.

In 1984 for the first t ime in Turkish Universities he started to teach the Cartoon Class and he continued teaching this class till his death without any interruption.

In 2001 he became a professor. We had a better and more comfortable working environment.

In 2002 he established the Cartoon Art Research Center, which was also first in his kind in Turkish Universities. In the meantime, he also organized two international cartoon contests as a first step towards establishing the cartoon museum that he was planning to open.

In 2 004 h e op ened t he E skisehir C artoon M useum a s a p art of t he Cartoon A rt R esearch Center. The museum was l ike A tila’s ch ild. During the restorations, he was p resent a t the construction si te of the building, when he didn’t have classes. Since i t took a while for the staff of the museum to start working, he opened and closed the museum himself and we did the cleaning together. He put everything in the museum very carefully and paid attention to every detail. He carried lots of b ooks, j ournals, a nd documents f rom our house t o the museum. His friends and cartoonists welcomed his r equest w armly and donated several books t o t he m useum. T his w as a n example of i ncredible t rust between f riends a nd colleagues. Appr oximately 1 000 c artoons and 1200 books w ere collected i n a v ery short time. New st aff d id not h ave an y k nowledge about cartoon a rt. Whenever A tila saw a cartoon misplaced or fell on the floor, he used to get really upset. That’s why we started to build up the archive on our own. I went to the university’s library to learn how to create an archive. Atila designed an emblem for the museum. At the end of the first year we finished archiving the c artoons and recording the books that were d onated to the museum. M y volunteer efforts outside of t he working hours were not very welcome for t he universitiescommunity. We even heard unpleasant complaints about my volunteer efforts. We did not know that working wi thout expecting anything was a m istake, and we were both confused and very sad. However, none of these obstacles have diminished our passion for cartoons. Atila was a very calm, patient and faithful person. He never forgot the people who were dedicated to cartoon art, he organized special events for them. In the meantime everythingwas settled in the museum and the museum started to run smoothly. Atila was planning a new project.

In 2009, in order to establish a Cartoon Museums Union, he organized the First InternationalCartoon Museum Directors’ Meeting in Eskisehir and designed a logo for the meeting. This was his fifth big project. He knew that the participation to this meeting would increase every


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year. Unfortunately, he couldn’t participate to any of the following meetings of this union heestablished. He passed away on April 23rd, 2011. A life which was full of cartoons between 1973 and has ended in 2011.

After his death, over two and a half months, I went to the museum as a volunteer just to help people there and answer any questions they might have. However, there we re againcomplaints about my presence there. Fortunately, there were nice developments outside the museum. T he t hird C artoon M useum D irectors’ M eeting in Z emun, Serbia, organized a nInternational Atila Ozer Cartoon Portraits Exhibition and a book was published by the Mayor of Eskisehir T epebasi M unicipality Dr. Ah met Atac. Remembering A tila O zer E xhibition o f cartoonist Beytullah Heper, a cartoon contest among the high school students organized by Eskisehir A rt A ssociation a nd myself, a nd with environment c artoons contest a mong students with Atila Ozer special award.

I w atched a ll t hese developments. I c ould n ot l eave 3 6-37 y ears of my life s pent passionately on cartoons behind me. What could I do? I decided to redesign our house i n which we lived with our cats as “Prof. Atila Ozer Cartoon House.” On April 23rd 2012, one year a fter A tila’s d eath, w e g ot t ogether w ith ca rtoonists, j ournalists a nd a rt l overs a nd announced the opening of the house. My niece, Deniz C il who i s in a PhD program in the United States carried on the correspondence. Everyone who knows us said that this was a very good idea and seeing Atila’s books, cartoons, drawings, we did not know that he had produced this much work. I could not hang all the cartoons because we did not have enoughspace. This is a work of love and passion. I could not let his work stay in cabinets. Visitors are coming and s itting in t he h ouse j ust like guests, t hey rest and I offer them some refreshments. They look at the cartoons on the walls. But there is a lot of work to do. I will organize the articles written about him, interviews, letters, poster and emblem designs. I need more time to organize all of these.

What is important for me is to make people leave the Atila Ozer House with good and warm memories.

Vicdan Bulunmaz Ozer

Connect through never ending love, passion and courage


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Azerbaijan Cartoon The root of t he Cartoon H istory of A zerbaijan t akes its p lace in very o ld times - XVI-XVII centuries. One would come across with the initial specimens of this art just in Azerbaijan miniatures o f t he M iddle A ges. T he f ormation o f t he c artoon a s a n i ndependent g enre i n Azerbaijan coincides with the end of XIX and the beginning of the XXth century. Today with a sense of pride I can say that “Molla Nasreddin” being the first and the only satiric magazine known in the whole Muslim East, was published in 1906 only in Azerbaijan in the native Azerbaijani language. It is no mere chance that more than 20 satirical magazines and newspapers were published in 1906-1920 only in Baku city. This is considered to be a very big indicator.

The Azerbaijan cartoon having traditions in the democratic European and Russian cartoon school was a bridge between the West and the East. The Azerbaijan cartoon meeting has the highest requirements of that period and using traditions of the European cartoon school has taken the responsibility of passing this kind of art to neighbouring countries. The scientists and researchers of the world have got enough important and significant thoughts about the role o f t he Az erbaijan c omic gr aphics, c omic press a nd e specially t he ma gazine “ Molla Nasreddin” in fo rmation a nd fu rther d iscovery o f t he c omic p ress o f p eoples o f Iran, t he Middle East, the Crimea, Tataristan, the Caucasus and the peoples living along the Volga.

The m agazine “ Molla N asreddin” w hich b rought t he c artoon s chool of E urope t o t he East again restored its publication in Baku after the collapse of Czar Russia and establishing Soviet power in Azerbaijan. From 1922 to 1931 more than 300 issues of it came out. During these years the ch ief artist o f the magazine was Azim Azimzadeh. This well-known person and great cartoon master almost from the first issue of the magazine – from 1906 to 1931 –closely cooperated with “Molla Nasreddin”.

The h ouse where Az im Az imzadeh was bo rn, grew u p, l ived a nd c reated, turned i nto th e museum after h is d eath. The memorial house set up to perpetuate this great artist’s memory was formed according to the order of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan Republic in 1968.

Today t he a rtist’s 2 000 ex hibits a re p reserved i n t he f und o f t he memorial h ouse. T he artists’ works a re c onstantly demonstrated i n the museum which is s ituated in an area of 200 m² and consists of 6 rooms. At the same time, exhibitions of Azerbaijan cartoonists, the followers of Azimzadeh school, are often organized in the museum. Every year about 3000 people v isit t he m useum. M ajority o f t hem a re w orshipers of A zimzadeh’s creativity, t he guests of our country, young artists and students.

On the in itiative o f M inistry o f Azerbaijan Culture and Tourism, Baku Culture Department, the U nion of A zerbaijan A rtists, t he U nion of A zerbaijan C artoonists e xhibitions, arrangements, r ound-table me etings, r eadings a re constantly organized. A lso the presentations of newly published books, catalogues and albums are held in the museum.

As you know, in 1910 we announced the International Cartoon Contest “Molla Nasreddin –Azerbaijan” o n t he occasion o f A .Azimzadeh’s 1 30th an niversary an d i t was h eld successfully. W e p ublished a book of 1 80 pa ges th at w ould be a ble t o shed a light onA.Azimzadeh’s c reativity a nd we sent i t to m ore th an 3 00 a rtists a nd p articipants o f th e Contest as a present. The opening ceremony of Az im Azimzadeh’s monument was held in the ce nter o f B aku i n o ne o f t he m ost b eautiful p arks o n D ecember, 2 012. A ll t his is considered to be our respect and esteem to Azimzadeh’s spirit.


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The Minister of Azerbaijan Culture and Tourism Mr.Abulfaz Qarayev has recently s igned anorder in connection with the fundamental repairing of Azim Azimzadeh memorial house. Surely, a s a r esult o f a ttention g iven a nd c are t aken b y t he s tate, t he m useum will be restored and its material and technical basis will be provided with new modern equipment. And t his w ill g ive a p ush t o t he i ncreasing amount of activities and op portunities of t he museum.

Surely, t hese and t hese k ind o f examples a re s triking examples o f t he st ate’s ca re for i tscartoonists, his productive activity and creativity and the love of the people. I consider that today t here i s A zim A zimzadeh’s sh are i n e ach su ccess, v ictory and a chievement o f Azerbaijani cartoonist.

Today the independent activity of the Cartoonists Union in Azerbaijan, the creation of “The Cartoon” s ection i n A zerbaijan A rtists’ U nion, t he t eaching of t he s ubject “ The C artoon History” at Azerbaijan State Culture and Art University, various satirical magazines published in the Republic and the recent foundation of Azerbaijan Cartoon Centre, certainly, serve to get the cartoon genre known and to promote it.

It is just the cartoon which makes us closer to each other, l inks our fates and the endless love and affection towards the cartoon. As a result of this cooperation and friendship the cartoon g ets m ore k nown a nd better developped. T he c hiefs o f cartoon m useums a re responsible for accelerating this process and promoting the cartoon more widely.

Surely, there are problems here too, as it is in other fields. We would like the material and technical basis of the cartoon museums, cartoon houses and centres to be much stronger. We w ish to increase the a ttention of the state to t his f ield, t he ri se of t he n umber of sponsors giving money for realization of new projects. But I am sure that if there is none of them, we w ill be faithful t o our work and speciality and serve the cartoon passionately. I believe that the endless love and affection towards the cartoon is the only factor which gives us strengh and motivation.

I think that each of us can cope with all problems in this work which we love most of all and will have enough strength to solve these problems coming across our path. This strength is considered to be in our unity and love for the cartoon.

The President of Azerbaijan Cartoonists’ Union, The Representative of Azim Azimzadeh Memorial House Bayram Hajızadeh

Connect through history, bridges and development


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Cartoon Program for TV January, 2012 (Eskişehir)

Early d ays a fter b eing t he M anager of A nadolu U niversity, M useum of C artoon A rt i n Eskişehir… When the responsibility of the duty combines with many projects and ideas for activities in my mind, they form a si p o f worry and a p iece of excitement fo r me. Lots of things to do, however there must be a priority in order to realize the things I have planned. Due to this and after a brainstorming with University Rectorate, we finally decided that the first project should be “a T.V. program for cartoon lectures”.

This project a ims to create a “cartoon l ecture program” which shall be broadcasted during one season in TRT Okul (a channel that had been formed by Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) and Anadolu University) in order to take an interest in cartoon art and to teach it.

January, 2012 (Eskişehir, a few days later)

After a few troublesome days when I’m about to welcome the new day, my cell phone starts to ring. I already realize that the project I intend to form is not the hardest te st t o accomplish in the w orld. B ut it is m y f irst t est a s a manager so i t mu st be do ne in a successful manner. As I start to think how this program could take an interest on cartoon art and could p rovide a s tarting point in order t o ra ise many cartoonists’ a ttention, I become more convinced that the choice of the cartoonist for the program is really important

Back to the phone, I was surprised w hen I s aw the n umber on t he s creen. S omeone i s calling from abroad. When I answered the phone with a bit of curiosity I heard the friendly and kind voice that says “This is Rahim Baggal Asghari, from Tabriz”.

September, 2009 (Eskişehir)

The first time I met with Mr. Rahim was through the first Cartoon Museum Conference performed in Anadolu University, Museum of Cartoon Art. Although I had no official relation with t he m useum t hose d ays, m y fa mily a nd I fo rmed a n ice fr iendship w ith t his lovely family (Mr. Rahim, his wife Ms. Mahdiye and their little girl Roz).

September, 2010 (Tabriz)

I was in Tabriz in order to represent the Museum of Cartoon Art as the Asistant Manager for the 2nd Cartoon Museum Conference. Mr. Rahim and his team welcomed me and the other museum managers in a very sincere and friendly manner and hosted us.

January, 2012 (Eskişehir, a few days later)

I h ear t he f riendly a nd k ind v oice t hat sa ys “ This is R ahim Baggal A sghari, f rom Tabriz”. After congratulating me for being manager he says that he wishes to support me for my upcoming projects and shall be glad to share his experiences in cartoon art via an educational organization. After this, I suddenly realize that all my troubles disappear that moment. Indeed, Mr. Rahim is such an appropriate cartoonist for the project we have been planning. “Immediately” I say to him “we should realize this project. Please inform me about your possibly early arrival schedule.”


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March, 2012 (Eskişehir)

It was 19 March, 2012 when I welcomed Mr. Rahim in İstanbul and we came to Eskişehir. Shooting the program took 3 days without interruption and planned to be screened in TRT Okul in Autumn Season in 2012. We constituted a class atmosphere in the studio with some of t he A nadolu University Fine Art Faculty students who have an interest in cartoon art. Mr. Rahim started to teach the basics of the cartoon art to the lecturers in the studio and to the lecturers beyond the TV screen.

After the completion o f shooting, the team was exhausted but pl eased. Even the program team (director, director of photography, sound mixer and lightner) stated that they gained an interest on cartoon art and wish to watch the program on TV, by drawing the cartoon at the s ame t ime. A s u nderstood, t he p rogram already started to get favorable results even before the screen date.

Before Mr. Rahim turned back to Tabriz, we tell each other how much we enjoyed to be a part of this organization and start to make plans for future projects. While leaving, we are absolutely sure that we have the same feelings: The Cartoon Museum Conference was a chance f or u s t o meet and this chance already turned into a productive organization for cartoon art.

My first organization as a manager was something that I felt fully satisfied about. I’m proud when I t hink h ow m any p eople t his p rogram could re ach a nd could f orm a n i nterest f or cartoon art. I’m looking forward to watch this program on TV in Autumn Season, 2012.

Sadettin AYGUN

Connect through media, friendship and education


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An Educational Success Story - one of many

From Sands to Comics About two years after it opened, the Israeli Cartoon Museum in Holon undertook to connectwith one of the local education system’s challenging programs: “Know Your City”. This was done as part of the seventieth anniversary of the City of Holon.

The initial concept was simple – to connect the Museum’s content world – comics – with the city in which it resides – Holon. The result – a graphic novel for children aged 8-10 entitled From Sa nds t o C omics, accompanied by a complete study program and a teachers’ preparatory course on the subject.

The Museum, which considers educating for creativity, free expression, and critical thinking as its main core components, has developed four programs designed for the local education system:

• Childhood Project – for children in the lower elementary school grades. • Holon is My City – for children in the higher elementary school grades. • On I mage and S tereotypes – for j unior h igh sch ool st udents, a nd ch ildren

participating in the Personal Commitment – Community Service Program. • Caricature and Freedom of Expression – for high school students.

We began working on From Sands to Comics together with Rami Aharoni, a native of the city who is acquainted with its history and has written three books on the subject. Once we had the raw material, archived photographs, and five stories describing the establishment of the five neighborhoods that were later unified to form the city, we approached a highly regarded comics creator and native of the city, Dorit Maya Gur, and asked her to turn the texts into a graphic novel.

Three months later we received the illustrated pages, and realized that we were now committed to turning comics into part of the city’s educational program. We added some of the archived photographs to the book, and a recommended walking tour in the city.

The Museum’s head instructor, Michal Korman, adapted the book into a study program for 4th and 5th grade s tudents, and two years ago, with great excitement, we presented the book and t he p rogram to the municipality’s Education Administration. Quite unexpectedly, the Administration adopted the program, and the following September 1,500 of the city’s students attended a series of three encounters at the Museum and participated in tours ofthe city, substituting their regular schoolbooks for a graphic novel and drawing paper.

After two full cycles of the program, we are proud to say that the children who participated in it are acquainted with the city, continue to explore it, and occasionally come back to the Museum to bring us their drawings and learn something new.

Galit Gaon Chief Curator Design Museum, Cartoon Museum, HOLON

Connect through history, education environment


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Stories about getting connected: the Gabrovo Biennal

Our first ‘connecting’ story begins as early as 1973. Bulgaria, a country in the Socialist Bloc, is well behind the Iron Curtain, ‘brotherly’ embraced by the Soviet Union (the USSR). The West is satanized and capitalism, featured as a rapacious monster, is inevitably labeled as ‘rotten’.

Under the c ircumstances of political confrontation, on April 1 st, 1972 the House of Humour and Satire was brought into the world on the local initiative of a small provincial Bulgarian town – Gabrovo. The town had already hosted nine editions of a National Humour Festival; jokes and anecdotes about thrifty Gabrovians were told right up to Scotland; the carnival in town had opened a new page in 1965. How easy it is to say “brought into the world…” now! However, t here w as a m an ( Stefan F artunov, a l egal ad visor b y v ocation), wh o h ad outstripped the time he was born in and who enjoyed the support of like-minded people and the then town’s mayor arch. Karl Kandulkov. Fartonov managed to persuade the Communist Party leaders in Gabrovo to launch an event under the heading International Bi ennial o f Cartoon a nd Sma ll Sa tirical Sc ulpture. At t he t ime t here w ere b ut t hree o r f our c artoon competitions in the world: Montreal, B ordighera, Knokke-Heist. T heir co nception w as so appealing that it even beat the party members’ fear and risk that a similar event should be inferred a s a n in strument o f f oreign influence. F ollowing a s election, t he F irst B iennial in 1973 showcased 348 artists from 32 nationalities and their 464 works. How the organizers succeeded i n a chieving t hat is a q uestion w e are still wondering a bout – all t hat with no Internet, no proper reference books and no computers. Except for director Stefan Fartunov, three more people were employed to work for the House of Humour and Satire (still with no building of its own) at the time: Petko Andreev, chief expert in Fine Arts; Veselin Vasilev (an economist), ch ief expert in Cartoons and Zhulieta Meteva (a tourism graduate) who had a natural bent for languages. The motto The World Lasts Because It Laughs was in fact Karl Marx’s thought “Laughing, mankind bids farewell to its past” paraphrased i n a li ne by Bulgarian poet and satirist Radoy Ralin. The First International Biennal laid the groundwork for a permanent exhibition Humour of the Peoples whereas the participation of artists from 32 countries was the most powerful backup for the establishment of the House of Humour and Satire and its development into a unique meeting ground for both artists and fans separated by the Iron Curtain.

In this sense, the history of the Biennial is a veritable record of connecting – minds and id eas - and m ovement i nto t he f uture; o f b reaking o ld stereotypes (p olitical and social alike); of overcoming the fear of encountering the other, the unknown ones from the West. As to the citizens of Gabrovo and its visitors, it was an event unheard of and unseen!

The Biennial has had its permanent premises – the House of Humour and Satire – since 1975. The formal opening of the building was honored by the very first man in the country –Communist P arty l eader a nd h ead of state T odor Z hivkov h imself; h is daughter L yudmila Zhivkova, chairperson of the Committee on Culture at the time, brought the cultural elite of Bulgaria along with the Diplomatic Corps to attend the Second Biennial and walk around the House.

Gabrovo turned into a Mecca of humour where artists from the East and the West could meet f ace t o f ace. The s cope o f t he B iennial broadened c onsiderably w ith t he inclusion o f four more categories, and that makes it exceptional to the present day. As a matter of fact, we h old, and still do, 6 b iennial c ompetitions si multaneously – for cartoons, g raphics,


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paintings, scu lpture, p hotographs and posters under a s ingle h eading. T he d evelopment strategy of the House of Humour and Satire (worked out by the museum specialists and some e xperts i n t he M inistry of C ulture) l aid down t hat ex tensive c ollection a nd r esearch work should be done i n a ll k inds and genres of humour a rt. Thus, we threw a bridge and connected v isual w ith performing a rts e mploying h umour ( cinema, t heatre, c lownery), a s well as w ith humoristic literature. The r esult was t he opening o f an Experimental Satirical Theatre; the launching o f an International F ilm Comedy Festival, o f a National Meeting o f Joke- and S torytellers, e tc. In a s ocialist country t hose were u nheard-or undreamt-phenomena!

My fi rst m emories g o b ack t o 1 974 w hen I s tarted w orking a t the House of Humour a nd Satire. I t was t he mo st a ppealing a nd e xciting pl ace f or a y oung u niversity gr aduate to launch a ca reer, b ecause the museum offered a d irect a ccess t o i nformation, freedom of developing d ifferent d epartments c entered on particular g enres of h umour art, the opportunity o f establishing contacts through correspondence with artists and institutions from all over the world, the opportunity of meeting and exchanging ideas and experienceswith people as diverse as the world itself. In 1980 there were more than 100 of us employed in the H ouse – young, e ducated, w ith a go od s ense o f h umour, a dequately t rained a nd aspiring to make p rogress a long w ith the i nstitution. Who has not l ived through socialism would hardly understand us. Through the House and the Biennial we made our boldest dreams come true – dreams about “getting connected” with artists from 173 countries in the world; dreams about overcoming the retrograde stumbling blocks of political confrontation. W e b ecame envoys o f p eace, glasnost (openness) a nd perestroika (restructuring). We felt part of the Wind of Change! This is how personal success has turnedpublic!

Our 40-year experience has proven that:- Ideas conveyed in humorous and satirical works of art can knock down stereotypes; fight

human vices; reconcile differences and change the world into a better place to live;- To have all of the above happen and be sustainable in the course of time, it needs a well-

founded i nstitution w ith a steady state funding and strong support on the part of sponsors and artists alike. The House of Humour and Satire has built up a network encompassing 15 800 artists and 9 300 institutions from 173 countries in the world;

- “Workers de termine e nd r esults.” (Stalin, 1 935). T he d irector’s selection o f st aff i s crucial! G ive employees f reedom to fulfill t heir po tential and you w ill be astonished by the results. Employees should be able to make progress alongside the advancement of the institution. Every job is of consequence, so respect it and require respect back. The art of a leader is to build up effectively working teams able to stand up to competition. Not the least important is the assessment of the public.

- Against all s ocial a nd political c hanges, a lternating g overnments, financial a nd other global crises, the c hronology o f t he B iennial has remained unbroken which only comes to demonstrate that the art of humour and satire is intransitive. More than 9 160 artists f rom 1 73 c ountries h ave t aken p art i n a ll t he 2 0 e ditions o f t he I nternational Biennial of Humour and Satire in the Arts; 61 494 works in total have been submitted to the B iennial s ix c ategories; a t otal o f 4 40 p rizes, 7 4 h onorable m entions a nd 6 8 certificates of excellence have been awarded;

Over the years the House of Humour and Satire has implemented some other successfully ‘connecting’ projects:

In 1996 and 1999 the I nternational C artoon C ompetition Fun-Loving Balkans linked 150 artists f rom the Balkan countries w ith cartoon l overs i n Bulgaria at the height o f a raging war close to the Bulgarian border;


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In 1998 the H ouse of Humour and Satire h eld a National C artoon Competition under t he heading Europe Dreams of Bulgaria which was funded by the Delegation of the European Commission to Sofia. (At the t ime no one in Europe would ever want to hear of Bulgaria!) The c ompetition a nd e nsuing e xhibition, w hich t oured a num ber o f Balkan a nd E uropean countries, bonded 71 Bulgarian cartoonists with European citizens of all stripes;

In 2006 and 2008 the East-West European Encounters o f H umour Art b rought t ogether artists from both member- and non-member states of the EU, for we are convinced that neither countries nor artists should be divided by any benchmark - just on the contrary, artists should be incorporated i nto n etworks and b rought c loser t o Maurice S chumann’s great European idea. Thus in 2008 we successfully brought off the project Smile at Your Neighbor. It involved 8 humour artists from 7 European countries who were invited to make drawings in the open; to show a small selection of works in a group exhibition; to join a round-table discussion on i ntercultural d ialogue a nd the rol e of humour in r ising above differences; to taste typical national d ishes cooked by young chefs; to appreciate Gabrovo dancers performing diverse ethnic dances, etc. The event was held within the framework of a major national project implemented by the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria and funded by the EU.

In 2009 (two y ears after Bulgaria’s accession to the EU) Eurosapiens National C artoon Competition w as y et a nother opportunity f or Bulgarian c artoonists t o c ross swords. T he competition was funded b y Mr. N ickolay M ladenov ( former MEP a nd current M inister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria). The exhibition opening and prize-awarding ceremony took place at the European Parliament in Brussels on April 1st – the birthday of the House of Humour and Satire. It was a remarkable story and an example of forging bonds: the initiative was taken by the politicians; the organization was entirely handled by the Museum HOUSE OF HUMOUR A ND S ATIRE; t he sh arp sa tirical pens a nd m asterly b rushes of t he a rtists proclaimed, pricked like thorns, castigated, ridiculed and triumphed!No, our stories about ‘getting connected’ do not end here…

Chief Assistant TATYANA TSANKOVADirectorMuseum HOUSE OF HUMOUR AND SATIRE

Connect through European unity, history and a look on the future, the need for humour


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Hi Smiley Thought I guess in the world, and as far as I know in my country, some kids and teenagers want todraw cartoons. Some o f them know their capabilities and talent, some do not. Where canthey go and who can they consult to draw? And again I guess in the world, and I know in my country there were artists who were forgotten. There was a need for a place where people could remember them. I knew that there were a lot of people who were waiting to visit thesekind of places.

Milas was the place where the famous cartoonist Turhan Selcuk was born. Milas was the city of d ifferent ci vilizations. P eople i n M ilas w ere true a rt l overs. In sh ort, i t w as t he p lace I always wanted.

I shared my thoughts w ith the Mayor o f M ilas, Muhammet Tokat. And we s tarted to think together. We established a committee. A recently restored house became ‘the place’ and it was named “MILAS TURHAN SELCUK HOUSE WITH CARTOONS”.

What is in that “place”?

Free cartoon workshops

A section reserved for Turhan Selcuk (exhibition, personal items, and documentary display)

Meetings with famous cartoonists, workshops, and periodical exhibitions

Talks

National and international cartoon contests

Cartoon and Humor Library

Now, in that “place” kids and teenagers from Milas are drawing cartoons, and they do not want a grim-faced world.

Their parents are smiling.

People of Milas are smiling.

Visitors are meeting with the cartoons of Turhan Selcuk and are learning the world he was dreaming of.

People of Milas are sending their smiles to our “WORLD”.

With my warmest smile,

Kamil Masaraci

Cartoonist


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Let me get back to my success story. My personal achievement is to be the wife of the cartoon master Turhan Selcuk for 20 years. I do not have any talent in drawing cartoon but I’m a very good cartoon reader. I’m actually a chemistry engineer. I do not know if there is any relation between having an engineering background and being a good cartoon reader.

My m ain g oal is t o p rovide a c ontinuous f low of Turhan S elcuk Cartoons t o y ounger generations and contribute to the improvement of cartoon art as a universal mode of communication. Turhan Selcuk enlightened the era he lived in. His legacy and works will live forever.

In regards t o m y contribution t o t he m useum, n aturally, I h ave d onated h is c artoons, personal items, and his archive which is now displayed in the museum. In the course of time, the museum’s archive as well as my contributions will grow and enrich.

I’m very glad that I will get to know you and other participants.

I hope the meeting will be a great success.

Best,

Ruhan Selcuk.

Connect through workshops, contests and smiles


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The International Forum of Visual Humour Karikaturum – the brand of Surgut City

My congratulations! Four stars is real recognition!

What is it based on? On regularity, seriousness and quality of works selected for catalogues, and impartial assessment of the prize-winning works. Four stars on the The international center of Iranian cartoonist «IRANCARTOON» website that unites a lot of artists is a great success!!! As I look at the terms of the contest, I see that these stars are the guarantee of the organizers’ integrity and quality of the works’ assessment. In short, WELLDONE!!! My congratulations!

extract from the letter by Vladimir Stepanov, cartoonist and jury member of multiple cartoon contests.

Organization o f international c ontests e nables m useums t o e stablish m ultiple p artnership contacts i n y our c ountry a nd a round t he w orld a nd t o i ntegrate i nto t he i nternational a rt community. Having established the International Forum of Visual Humour ‘KARIKATURUM’ in 2001, Surgut gained new opportunities to establish cultural cooperation with almost any city in the world.

At the start, this project was perceived as risky, daring and doomed to fail. Surgut is located at a distance of 3000 km from the centre of Russia. Even some Russian people still believe that brown bears wearing valenki roam our streets (why valenki of all things? they are quite warm h ere w ithout a ny f ootwear) a nd I shudder t o t hink w hat f oreigners m ight t hink o f Surgut. A lso, t here i s t he perception that there is nothing but oil and gas (I wonder who extracts this b lack go ld? bears?). In 2011 Surgut held the well-deserved f irst p lace i n the national rating of the most comfortable cities, conducted by the Union of Architects of Russia.

The idea t o i mplement t his p roject i n S urgut w as r ather s pontaneous. T he m eeting w ith Novosibirsk artist Vladimir Stepanov in 2001 was a twist of destiny. A crazy wish to launch a new cartoon contest that was international too, was born in his workshop. Done! For the first KARIKATURUM we sent o ut o ver 2 ,000 i nvitations, w e only h ad to w ait f or th e artists’ ‘replies’. We gained our first small victory here because we stated the jury members’ names in the terms of the contest. After we received over 1,000 replies from all over the world, the scale of the ‘anticipated results’ surprised even KARIKATURUM’s parents. It took a year for the adventurous idea to become fully realized and the title KARIKATURUM to be associated with Surgut, Surgut Fine Arts Museum and international contests of visual humour.

The International Forum of Visual Humour KARIKATURUM is a contest with an open list of nominations, with the possibility not only to change the theme but nominations and jury. It is t raditionally co mposed o f famous ca rtoonists a nd ca rtoon experts a s w ell. We ha ve $11,500 pr ize mo ney and n umerous s pecial pr izes. Each odd y ear we a nnounce a n ew theme and nominations and the jury chooses the winners; each even year the main events of the Forum – the awards ceremony and the best works exhibitions – are held. The format of the exhibition a nd the publishing o f r esults a re n ot f ixed either. T here a re stationary museum exhibitions, movable exhibitions in different cities of Russia and abroad, “open air exhibitions” during c ity festivals, “exhibitions on wheels”, “window exhibitions” and “CITY-format exhibitions” on traditional advertisement banners. Today we can easily say that the project, experimental in its nature, has become a landmark of our museum and the brand of Surgut.


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Surgut F ine A rts M useum i s no t a “ purely” cartoon m useum. It e xhibits a rcheological collections of I-XVI centuries, Russian Art collections of XIX - XXI centuries, Siberian Art collection and more. The fact that contest works sent for KARIKATURUM remain the property of the museum has enabled us to gather a unique collection of ironic art. The collection now numbers about 600 0 i tems a nd i ncludes c artoons, ph otos, s mall s culptures a nd a uthor’s dolls. In 2011 the museum conducted an international survey, the purpose of which was to determine t he best ca rtoonist n ationally a nd internationally. W e se t a g oal t o a ssess t he level of ou r collection. As a result of this survey, we f ound that the level of ou r i ronic a rt collection is rather high; the museum owns the original works of 1036 cartoonists from 69 countries. I am not going to list them here in order not to forget anyone and of fend them with m y f orgetfulness. 6 c atalogues o f t he International F orum of V isual H umour KARIKATURUM, w here th e be st o f t he b est w ere pr esented, w ere dis tributed a round t he world.

Thanks t o t he F orum w e h ave another i nteresting c ollection in ou r museum “ The Impressions of Surgut”, it is composed of cartoon-impressions drawn by the cartoonists who visited Surgut. Over 70 venerable cartoonists, photographers and sculptors from around the world v isited Su rgut t o pa rticipate i n a wards a nd o pening c eremonies. In 200 6 a nother unusual monument “Monument to Smile” appeared in Surgut. In front of the Museum Centre, e rected on a pedestal, there i s a g igantic laughing f ish with a mermaid wearing a Russian ushanka – the symbol of KARIKTURUM - on its back. I don’t think that any cartoon contest can afford to immortalize itself in bronze. The sculpture was created for Surgut by Oleg Dergachev (Canada). The monument is especially popular among the just married; it’s a popular venue for wedding processions. The fish’s palms are polished to a shine because few visitors can resist touching its “calloused hands”. They say it brings luck.

The f ormat o f t his e dition do es n ot ma ke i t p ossible t o t ell y ou a bout a ll K ARIKATURUM projects. That’s why I will o nly br iefly de scribe t he K ARIKATURUM 5 Ju bilee Fe stival. Th e choosing of KARIKATURUM exhibition titles was an interesting task. Each project was given its own original name according to the date and venue.

The f irst p roject KARIKATURUM: C UPID JUB ILEE started w ith th e e xhibition “ Lyubov-morkov” on St Valentine’s Day, February, 14.

The n ext exhibit pr oject K ARIKATURUM: H EALTHY JUB ILEE was an ef fective r emedy f or beriberi. It was held in the Clinical City Policlinic №1 and was a series of cartoon exhibitions “The Secret of Siberian Health’ and ‘ART-tricks’.

On Apr il, 1 t he a rt mu seum a nd t wo t ransportation c ompanies l aunched K ARIKATURUM: MOBILE JUBILEE. Cartoon exhibitions were held on bus lanes № 1,2,3,4. The numbers of bus lanes correspond to 4 past International Forums of Visual Humour KARIKATURUM.

The airport opened its aerial gate for KARIKATURUM: FLYING JUBILEE where the “Surgut is the capital of cartooning” exhibition was held.

KARIKATURUM: SERIOUS JUBILEE emphasized the seriousness of jubilee events. On June, 11, 2010 the final exhibition of KARIKATURUM 5, called “Passion”, was opened.

On June, 12 for the first time the Forum Awards Ceremony was held in public on the stage of the State University Square. The exhibition that is traditionally held on Independence Day was designed as exhibition rooms “on wheels” i.e. city buses bedecked with cartoons inside and outside. The exhibition was accompanied by workshops, master-classes, contests and quizzes. KARIKATURUM’s mascot Mikha the teddy bear, a regular participant of all Forum


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events, became the real gem of the holiday. The exhibition of i ce sculptures “ Irony in ice” held in the historical and cultural centre “Old Surgut” was a New Year present for the city. During several months Surgut was turned into a single exhibition space with its hero, Humour, and the museum extended its exhibition areas.

KARIKATURUM is probably our city’s most successful cultural initiative.

Svetlana Kruglova, Director of Surgut Fine Arts Museum,KARIKATURUM organizer and ideologist

Connect through experiments, international contests and art


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The Story of Tabriz Cartoon Museum We had been exiled. If I want to speak outside of the usual pleasantries, I must say we had been exiled from an art complex in a good neighborhood where we had a thriving office to the offenders` area. This historic building was located in the middle of a park where women could not come and go with security and peace of mind. It was a dilapidated building and had been conquered by addicts. Either I should close Tabriz Cartoon Association or achieved a success from heart of this failure.

So when we went to see the dilapidated building with the art director for the first time, I felt as if I were walking in a big museum and undoubtedly these imaginations created beautiful images in my m ind. I c alled t he y oung me mbers a nd w anted t hem t o h elp e stablish a cartoon museum in the east of the world and in Iran for the first time. Art directors did not prevent our activities and we began to work quickly. Since a few years ago the building was used as the national library, we could find several great and heavy book shelves. We pushed them with help of 20 people and put the old shelves as a wall in the middle of hall. I wanted the young members whose academic course was to make a concrete sculpture and I began working with cement and bricks with them. Then one of the members who knew carpentry partitioned of f t he h all b y w ooden w alls. Of course, l ater on w e r educed t he n umber of partitions. I n a su nny d ay, w e a ll sw ept a nd w ashed t he b uilding. S ince w e w ere not sculptor, the statue became a little short. The older members brought lunch for us and I saw the girls were washing the windows which had not been washed for years.

In t hose d ays, we w ere h olding t he 6 th i nternational f estival o f T abriz an d I wa nted the award ceremony to be held in the museum and its great hall. Workers were plastering the walls. Each of the hundred members was busy in doing something. Rashid Yakali deputy of Turkey cartoonists association that was a guest in Tabriz for 6th festival said with worries:"Museum building works are not finished until the day of closing ceremony"… and he heard the answer: "Will be finished…" Guests were arriving from other cities but the building works h ad n ot still be en c ompleted. H owever, w e pe rformed t asks more qu ickly. Fr iends from the art department came to help us. We were engaged in a real struggle. I said to my friends I will hold so much exhibitions and festivals in this neighborhood that the surrounding area is also affected.

Gradually, women were seen in this park. They came to museum every day and environment was improved little by little. In the opening day of the museum the works were completed i n the l ast seconds. Telephone w ires w ere connected, the entrance hall was installed, pavement was repaired and chairs were arranged. We had about 500 guests and the museum opened with the enthusiasm of people and efforts of Tabriz Cartoon Association members. At n ight, I could not s leep due to pain in my feet. I got s ick a week but i t was something like a light grove in my heart …. Now six years have passed since that day and the museum has found i ts way but we never forget those days that ex isted w ith love and interest.

Rahim Baghal Asghari Baghmishe

Connect through hard work, social care and companionship


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Museum of Cartoon Art and Caricature in Warsaw

A year has passed since I took up the direction of the Museum of Cartoon Art and Caricature in Warsaw. It’s been a year abounding in unforgettable experiences and in important artistic events. I h ave s taged f ive t emporary e xhibitions a nd t wo c artoon c ompetitions: on e international d edicated to th e t opic of f ootball, a nd t he ot her – for t he “ cartoon of t he month”, d irected t o P olish c artoonists. E arly n ext y ear w e a re m ounting a n e xhibition featuring t he “ cartoons o f t he year”, d uring w hich w e w ill p resent all t he a warded a nd recommended works and grant the award for the year 2012.

Our competition entitled “The Ball is in P lay” had more than a thousand and two hundred entries, three hundred of which qualified for the final stage. An exhibition showing selected competition works is presently on view in our Museum. It was running during the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, a ttracting s teady i nterest, and w ill continue for the next two months until September 2012.

The hardest exhibition t o o rganize was t he one that opened i n our Museum i n March this year, documenting a t ragic chapter in our h istory. The exhibition, entitled “Warsaw 1939-1944 - Underground Satire and the Realities of Occupation in the Works o f Polish Graphic Artists,” comprised more than a hundred works by artists who used their drawings as a weapon ag ainst t he G erman i nvader. I n t he German-occupied W arsaw, sa tirical ca rtoons raised the spirits of the oppressed nation. The works created in that period were simple and fast, a nd t hey h armed the en emy a s effectively a s t he m ost a ccurate o f w eapons. T hose cartoons, along with popular rhymes, street jokes and songs, have now become symbols of resistance and of the indomitable spirit. Produced on such a scale, they were a unique phenomenon in the h istory o f Europe. We p resented drawings which r idiculed the German occupying forces, as well as caricatures of the Führer of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler and his Italian ally, Benito Mussolini. Other cartoons a t the exhibition show the German nation as victims of the Nazi regime.

One section of the exhibition was entitled “The Presence of the Polish Underground State”. The whole event documented the existence in our country of a phenomenon unknown in all the ot her p arts of o ccupied E urope – namely, an o rganized u nderground s tate s tructure, continuing the activity of a state occupied and yet unconquered. In this particular section of the exhibition, we wished to illustrate two crucial functions of underground satire, related to its influence o n t he mo ods a nd a ttitudes of t he P olish s ociety: t hrough s atire, t he P olish Secret State demonstrated its ongoing activity and called upon the people to resist the occupation actively.

Another section was dedicated to the living conditions in occupied Warsaw. It opened with drawings of the city in the autumn of 1939: houses ruined by Luftwaffe’s barbarian air raids, the inhabitants eking out a living in poverty, the arrogant and cruel invaders.

The realistic watercolors o f the Jewish d istrict, painted in 1942 by a teenage g irl - Teofila Langnas – depict t he horror of t he W arsaw Ghetto. T his s ection of t he exhibition w as complemented by drawings of the terror that reigned supreme in the city, culminating in the mass public street executions that came in the autumn of 1943 and continued through the first months of the following year.

We a lso s howed extremely ra re c opies of u nderground s atirical a nd c omic m agazines. According to expert estimates, half o f the 16 underground periodicals appearing in Poland under the occupation were published in Warsaw. Visitors had the opportunity to see several


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issues of those bulletins, as well as reproduced mastheads and title pages of others whose originals we have not been able to obtain. Significantly, satirical drawings were also printed by u nderground n ewspapers, p olitical a nd so cio-cultural titles; most frequently – in t he magazine entitled The Democrat.

The satirical magazines printed by the underground state in Warsaw also included those used du ring t he “ Operation N ”, a iming t o spread de featism i n t he en emy ranks b y addressing Germans in a language which they could understand. Of special interest in this category i s th e Klabautermann, de signed g raphically b y t he e minent P olish g raphic a rtist Stanisław Tomaszewski, professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw after the war.

The invaders were bent on continually intimidating the subdued people, on convincing them that the Allies stood no chance of winning the war and Poland could not dream of regaining independence. The a ctivity o f t he u nderground, h owever, di sproved this pr opaganda. T he chief aim of underground satire was to help Poles overcome their fear of the seemingly all-powerful and invincible foe. The first proof of success in this campaign were the smiles on the faces of the subjugated people when they saw the words “Deutschland kaput” on a wall or a fence, or a gallows improvised on a streetlamp, with the inscription “nur fu ̈r Deutsche”. This helped them hold their heads up again, restored the faith in the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich and in their own victory.

In order to h elp ou r v isitors r ealize t he h orrors of t he wars and oc cupation, w e supplemented the exhibition with historical photographs from that time. We showed Warsaw inhabitants hanged by the Germans from a balcony in the city centre and on specially constructed g allows on t he outskirts; ol d J ews driven t o places of h ard l abor, and the omnipresent Germans terrorizing the streets of Warsaw. The presentation was accompanied by a soundtrack with the sound of street fighting, fragments of street songs from that cruel time, sounds of life in the occupied city, where shooting and executions were everyday reality.

The exhibition was visited both by young people – for whom those events are history – and by those who took part in the struggle with the invaders, by witnesses of the war. Many people contributed their hearts, knowledge and talents to that important and extraordinary event: a marriage of art and history.

Zygmunt Zaradkiewicz

Connect through history, resistance and human bravery


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Connecting through cartoons in Serbia Cartoons w ere v ery mi ghty me ans i n c ommunication t hroughout the complete h istory of mankind. Striking examples of that we can f ind from pharaohs in Egypt or the Roman empire until today, with the increasing importance as we approach the present. And, as it could be predicted, the importance of cartoons in communication between the people will be more and more important in the future.

Just one example: from the beginning of the last decade of 20th century, coincided with the turbulent times in ex-Yugoslavia and in Serbia, the importance of the cartoons in newspapers was growing, especially before the elections. The sharpest critic of the regime in Serbia, f amous c artoonist C orax, w as s o p opular t hat on t he h uge s treet d emonstrations against the regime in 1996 among other signs was one with the message “Corax for president”. Corax himself was among the demonstrators, so a lot of people were able to talk with him and to discuss his cartoons which, in those very hard and hopeless times for ordinary people, were almost a medicine.

From the other side, public very rarely has the occasion to meet cartoonists and to talk with them. The writers are in a better position: on the literary evenings and the presentations of their b ooks t he p ublic can d iscuss with them, e ven n ot only a bout t he b ook, b ut a lso on other subjects. Cartoonists (as well as painters or sculptors) only meet their pu blic onexhibitions, and there is no chance for some closer contacts.

Cartoon m useums a re ideal p laces fo r co nnecting b etween ca rtoonists a nd t he p ublic. Zemun cartoon museum unfortunately still has no adequate space for exhibitions and other needs, but several times we organized specific meetings with cartoonists and their admirers, mainly d uring t he c artoon exhibitions i n a t own g allery. Those w ere v ery i nteresting meetings which gathered a l ot o f people, who discussed d ifferent themes with cartoonists. The most interesting of those meetings was one arranged regarding a book “Zemun school of cartooning”, held in 1996 in a big yard of a restaurant. It was presented over 400 very interested p eople, a s well a s 1 3 Z emun ca rtoonists o f d ifferent g enerations a nd d ifferent artistic stiles, and the event lasted over two hours.

Zemun cartoon museum, as we said previously, has no adequate space, so our contacts with public are rare and limited only on exhibitions in different galleries. Of course, we are open for all who need information, for example for the students of fine art. Some of them asked certain material or information and in that case museum l ibrary or archive are available to them. Also, we collaborated with some cartoon theoretic from Serbia and abroad, as well as with so me ca rtoon l overs w hich a sked fo r s ome copies o f t heir fa vorite ca rtoons. B ut generally, wide contacts and connecting with the public we do not.

Yet, one of such contacts was very interesting. Namely, one day the owner of a pub where Bojana an d I o ften d rop, c ame i n t he mu seum a nd a sked me : “Do you know cartoonist Apicella?”. I was really surprised: Enzo Apicella in Italy is only known by readers o f the communist newspaper “Liberazione”, where he publishes his cartoons and in England, where he lives, also few people heard about him but… the fact that pub owner in Zemun knows him was almost a miracle. Well, I know a lot about Apicella because I organized his personal exhibition in Zemun in 2000 and he was our guest for several days. I told that to my acquaintance and then asked him how he knows Apicella. He explained me that he worked for some time in London as a barman in a pub where Apicella often dropped, but he was still abroad in 2000 and never heard about Apicella`s exhibition in Zemun. After all, I gave to the pub owner Apicella`s portfolio with a lot of his cartoons – the artist gave his complete


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exhibition to Zemun museum as a gift – and my acquaintance spent almost an hour looking them and discussing with me and talking me some witty stories from London connecting with Enzo Apicella.

Much m ore co ntacts a re connecting Z emun c artoon m useum with ca rtoonists. I n S erbia there are around 200 cartoonists and most of them have very close contacts with us. They send us their books, albums and catalogs from the exhibitions, even some cartoons for the museum collection. On the other side, some Serbian cartoonists asked us from time to time to borrow them their cartoons which are in the museum collection for their retrospective exhibitions. So, the contacts and the connecting is mainly professional, but with a couple of Serbian cartoonists we have also very close friendly relations and they are always ready to help us in different projects.

After t he d ead of several w ell k nown ol der S erbian c artoonists, t heir f amilies b rought t o Zemun museum a l ot o f their cartoons and books, then some t rophies f rom competitions, but also some personal things like favorite pencils, glasses etc. We accepted all that in a purpose t o k eep alive a part of Serbian cartoon history. But one of such gifts was very touching. Namely, the widow of our known cartoonist Daskalović, after his death brought to Zemun museum, among other personal things, a chocolate! He explained me that her late husband liked that kind of chocolate the best and that she would be happy if we add it to the museum collection! After a short time I accepted it, so Daskalović`s favorite chocolate is now in Zemun museum.

Zemun cartoon museum also has close contacts with a lot of cartoonists from abroad. Some of t hem w ere ou r g uests, like t he a warded a rtists on ou r regular c ontests or those w ith personal e xhibitions in Zemun. Others we met abroad on different occasions. T hey a lso collaborated w ith Z emun m useum t hrough se nding d ifferent m aterials su ch a s b ooks, catalogs and cartoons and w ith some o f t hem we a re a lso i n very c lose f riendship. Lo t o f cartoonists which had personal exhibitions in Zemun gave complete exhibitions to the Zemun museum, like Larry, Apicella, Ivan Kutuzov, Oleg Dergachov and many others.

Also, through cartoons we met several very serious collectors of cartoon books from abroad (Jean-Marie Bertin from France, Wolf Geyer from Germany…) and with them we collaborated intensively. The more, with Jean-Marie Bertin we made very friendly ties.

During y ears, Z emun I nternational S alon of C aricature a nd Z emun c artoon m useum established a good connection with a lot of cartoon museums around the world. For us, such connections are very important because we accomplished some exhibitions abroad, in different countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Italy, Great Britain, Switzerland), as well as a few ex hibitions i n Z emun, r epresenting m aterial f rom other m useums h ere. A ll t hoseexhibitions w ere a g ood c hance t o familiarize d omestic p ublic w ith t he m aterial o f o ther museums. The most important for us was the cartoon museums directors meeting, for the first time organized in Eskishehir in Turkey, and the third which we organized in Zemun last year. T hose m eetings w ere a v ery g ood a nd u seful ex perience f or a ll p articipants a nd an occasion to make better connections between museums.

Yet it is said that the connections and collaboration between museums had to be through exchanging exhibitions, publications etc. Also, such connections could be realized through a practice t hat e ach m useum f or t he j ury of t he c ontest i t org anizes, has t o in vite a representative of a nother cartoon m useum. A nd, m aybe t he m ost i mportant, such connections could be realized through visits of directors and other specialized staff to other museums to familiarize with their experiences in presentation and keep cartoons and other materials, i n co nnection a nd co ntact with the public a nd the cartoonists a nd m any ot her things related to the complete work of a cartoon museum. Mostly the purposes and the aims


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of cartoon museums are the same and the methods of work are similar, nevertheless there are some sp ecifics in t he wo rk an d o rganization o f each of t hem. I can s ay t hat a l ot o f things according to work and organization I learned during my official (and unofficial) visitsto the cartoon museums in Basel, Gabrovo, Warszawa, Kruishoutem and others. Such visits helped me to organize the cartoon museum in Zemun as well as it was possible.

Maybe the most important aspect of t he connecting through cartoon i s a f riendship made with a lot of different, but mostly wonderful people all round the world: cartoonists, directors and staffs of cartoon museums, cartoon lovers etc as well as the members of their families. From my experience, such friendships are very sincere and firm, more sincere and firm than some other friendships based on another connection.

Branko Najhold

Director of the Zemun Cartoon Museum

Connect through communication, friendship and collaboration


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The Egyptian Caricature Museum After I graduated from the Alexandrian Academy of Fine Arts, I t ravelled to Spain in 1978 and this is where I directly got involved with caricature. You could say that the production of satirical drawings actually saved my life; six months after my arrival when I found myself without money caricature came to secure my daily income.

I h ad walked around town and wat ched t he artists who were eagerly working on their pictures and portraits on the Plaza Major in Madrid. Furthermore I became aware of the fact that none of them was using the artistic form of caricature.

I sat down and spontaneously drew the person who was sitting in front of me. After I had finished; this stranger appreciated my work so much that he did not only pay me 10 dollars, but also brought one friend after the other for me to draw their portraits. This is how I got integrated into the artistic community of the Plaza Major and was able to survive for the next six months by drawing satirical pictures of the tourists who were visiting Madrid.

As a matter of fact I had never before and never after drawn this kind of caricature.

But n evertheless I c an t ruly a ffirm t hat it s aved m y l ife. T his is h ow I f ell in love w ith caricature a s a fo rm of a rt. A s a m atter o f fa ct, w henever I v isit a new co untry, I immediately go and search for the local caricature museum.

In 1985 when I came back to Egypt, I attempted to collect caricatures and started looking for them. This proved to be a very difficult task as the artists usually handed their work in to the n ewspapers a nd g ot ri d of t he originals a fter t heir p ublication. I w as scared t hat Egyptian caricature might d isappear wi thout a t race in any archive. I therefore set out to search for original caricatures and my love guided me. For over20 years I have collected piece by piece, until was finally ready to show them.

George Bahgouri an Egyptian caricaturist stated in “Al Ahram Weekly” in 2009:

“I have been a cartoon artist for nearly half a century, and I have often dreamt of a cartoon museum in my country. It was a dream that most of the time I managed to banish from my thoughts, since I knew how hard it would be.

Working in my studio one day, I am interrupted by Mohamed Abla, my friend of many years. He c omes i n, p lumps himself down in front o f one o f my paintings, and starts waving h ishands about, a sign that he has a piece of news. “Every t ime I sold a painting I bought a brick,” he states.

The b ricks a re now assembled in Fayoum in the shape o f a couple-house made of natural clay designed by Adel Fahmy a nd do nated by M ohamed Abla. “ I will be invited to the inauguration of a caricature museum in Fayoum not on the first of April, it is not a joke, but on the first of March!” Abla wanted Bahgouri and a chartered bus full of caricaturists to join him in the village of Tunis in Fayoum for the opening-day of the museum.

From the catalogue of the caricature museum:

“The art of the Egyptian caricature, since its rise at the beginning of the twentieth century, has honestly m irrored t he political and social changes t hat a ffected Egyptians and a ltered their characteristics. In order to understand their reactions outer appearance, interests and


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relationship with the outside world, there cannot be a more truthful depiction than the one found in Egyptian satire.

I d eveloped t he C aricature M useum t o h ouse s ome o f t he w orks c reated b y ex ceptional artists and to honor their pivotal (at times overlooked) role in relaying the emotional, social and political conditions of Egypt. It is in a way a sanctuary for these works so that they may always e xist an d r emain in o ur me mories a nd n ot be d iscarded li ke t he n ewspaper o r magazine they were printed in. The world of the Egyptian caricature is filled with as much sorrow as it is with laughter. There are boundless stories of arrests, vagrancy and exile. The museum is also a testament to the artists that faced many hardships with humor and a witty repartee.

I believe that Egyptian caricature has always been at the forefront of expressing the creeds, hopes and dreams of this society, and that the essence of this art m akes i t t he t rue representative of the soul of modern art as a whole, being a merge between an idea and the elements of visual art. Aside from the clarity of its objective, it is very similar to theater and other a pplied a rts i n pr ovoking a n immediate reaction a nd instantaneous c onnection between viewer and artist. Who among us was not moved by caricatures and forced to think about h is o wn po sition in r egard t o t he c ourage a nd de pth o f i deas e xpressed by t hese heroes?

I d edicate this museum t o the spirit of Zohdi El-Adawi, one of whose d ream was “the creation of a caricature museum. “

Caricature has carried the responsibility of serving as a mouthpiece of the Egyptian national cause from its very beginning at the end of the 19th century. And -most importantly- satirical drawings a lready made an important c ontribution t o t he f ight o f independence j ust a bout three decades after their first appearance in a modern newspaper. Ever since, Egyptian caricature has displayed the socio-political developments in a critical, mocking and partially hidden way.

It continued to do so during the challenging time of the last Egyptian revolution.

Dr Eliane U rsula E ttmueller w rote i n “ Studies i n C ontemporary H istory C aricature a nd Egypt’s Revolution of the 25th January 2011”:

“During the most intensive days from the 28th of January until the 11th of February 2011 a great number of people gathered, as we all know, on Cairo’s Tahrir Square without knowing whether they would return home alive. They were aware of this danger and even willing to die for the freedom of their nation. By 2 of February, later dubbed “the Battle of the Camel,” when Mubarak had the baltagiyya (thugs) violently attack the demonstrators, everybody had witnessed o ther p eople b eing injured or e ven k illed. C ontrary t o t he e xpectations of t he power holders, the demonstrators were not scared off. […] In this so en tirely exceptional situation, c aricature w as c ontinuously c omposed b y w hoever f elt like e xpressing h im- orherself in this way. Pictorial satire had escaped the restrictive frame of printed paper. More or l ess a rtistically accomplished caricatures were painted on walls, printed or d rawn on T -shirts a nd ba nderols, a nimatedly s taged by gr oups, i ndividuals o r w ith pu ppets a nd e ven symbolically interpreted.

Pictures of Mubarak himself, [whose image until then had enjoyed the privilege of ever-lasting, exaggerated beauty], were no violently deformed and disfigured with a pirate’s eye patch or Hitler’s moustache. Loyal to the original feature imprinted into caricature b y t he pioneer Carracci movement against the idealism of Renaissance paintings, this genre came


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to tear down the unrealistic, iconographic image of the never-aging Hosni Mubarak and to finally unmask the true, evil face of the Egyptian Dorian Gray.

[…] On Tahrir Square, caricature had come to play different roles. Firstly, satirical drawings were c oined as a p olitical we apon b y m eans o f wh ich t he p resident was f orced i nto resignation. With this aim, people used whatever they had in order to produce satire. They even turned themselves i nto embodied caricatures. A young man, for example, c ircled the square with a paper that read:”Step down my hands are hurting (from holding the banner)!” Secondly, caricature and enacted satire helped Egyptians to keep their spirits of resistance high. Especially spontaneous parodies of the president, where one or two people performed and the crowd could shout back at them, were extremely helpful for this purpose. In order to make the demonstrators endure the long hours of waiting and the constant feeling of threat on t he square, artists t ypically performed sketches, p oems and songs w ith sa tirical content. Thirdly, banners with caricatures and satirical texts were used in order to transport the message to the outside- back home to the family as well as to potential allies.”

The long history of Egyptian caricature will continue and so does my dream of exhibiting and promoting this special lively art. I am also aware of the fact that we are still at the very beginning of an enormous project which I hope -from the bottom of my heart- will enhance the production of and the research into this field by interested students all over the world.

Mohamed Abla

Connect through politics, art and dreams


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Once Upon a Toon… A P ittsburgh ma n w ith r ectangular f ramed gla sses a nd a b ristly be ard ( quite a c artoon character himself) envisioned a museum. In fact, it was not just a museum, but a ToonSeum, where cartoon a rt would be celebrated f or t he young and t he young-at-heart. That man with a vision was Joe Wos and he is here to tell you how it all began.

“For t he p ast 2 5 y ears, I h ave b een a p erforming c artoonist a nd s toryteller, c ombining storytelling with live cartoon i llustration on stage. I have performed for venues throughoutthe United States. Ten years ago I got a life changing phone call from a young man who had seen me perform in Columbus, Ohio. The caller was the newly appointed education director of t he s oon-to-open C harles M . S chulz M useum a nd R esearch C enter i n S anta R osa, California. T he d irector w anted t o k now i f I would p erform a nd l ead w orkshops f or t he opening w eek’s fe stivities. I w as o verwhelmed a nd d elighted, a nd considering S chulz w as my hero and inspiration, I immediately accepted the opportunity. A few months later, I was bound for my first trip to California.

Prior to working for the Charles M. Shultz Museum, I worked as a performer and consultant with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh for over two decades. At the Children's Museum, I worked in a variety of ways including exhibitions, education, events, outreach programs as well as assisting in other programs. Now, I had a lready performed at hundreds of venues, but t his w as sp ecial. This w as a m useum d edicated t o a cartoonist a nd n ot j ust a ny cartoonist, but my personal hero. I had never met “Sparky”, as his friends, family and other cartoonists called Mr. Schultz, and unfortunately I never got the chance because he passed away before the Museum opened. I did, however, meet another inspiring hero, Jean Schulz. Jeannie is to this day the driving force behind the Schulz Museum. She is a dynamic yet modest visionary who saw the need for the Schulz Museum and made it a reality. In the years to follow, I would come to rely on her advice and support as the ToonSeum inched its own way into existence.

I spent a week performing and getting to know the audience, staff and volunteers that make up t he S chulz M useum. A fter t hat w eek, I l eft o n a t our o f S an F rancisco w here I encountered the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum. It was then I realized I was looking at what could be the next big museum movement in America: Cartoon Art Museums! Having been with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh for so long, I watched as the children museums i ndustry e xpanded f rom j ust a h andful of c ities t o a n ational p henomenon w ith major museums in every city. When I returned to Pittsburgh, I immersed myself in learning all I c ould a bout t he o perations o f mu seums. I me t e very day w ith ma rketing, administration, volunteers, staff, and anyone I could who would listen to my idea.

As it happened, I had been collecting cartoon art over much of my adult life. At this time, I had amassed a collection of over 500 pieces and I realized this collection could serve as the basis for an exhibition gallery. I decided the best way to begin would be by prototyping a gallery. The Children’s Museum agreed to provide an under-utilized hallway which I could retrofit with a hanging system and signage to create an appropriate space. It quickly became clear, however, that I would be on my own for raising the funds. I also knew that meant that I would have to create a non-profit entity which meant giving up any ownership. Around this time, the International Cartoon Art Museum was closing in Boca Raton. Mort Walker had made several noble attempts at maintaining a c artoon art museum but he had now essentially decided to move on.


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Through Jeannie Schulz, I go t a meeting w ith Mort a nd a sked i f h e would g ive me s ome advice. H e c onsented a nd g ave m e t he b est a dvice I h ave e very received o n s tarting a museum: “Don’t do it.” He went on to let me know it would be an all-consuming passion. It would alter my life, be long hours, and ultimately it would never be mine. Also, I would have to give up my collection and my career and even then there were no guarantees it would succeed. He then said he could clearly see I was going to do it, and wished me success. But he prepared me, by letting me know the difficulty that would lie ahead, and sharing with me mistakes t hat h e h ad made. So w ith my n ewfound k nowledge, I entered w ith ey es w ide open into the adventure of starting a cartoon art museum in Pittsburgh.

With sage advice and life experience to back me, I began the process of putting together a board of directors. I started with local cartoonists, people I admired and respected but did not know personally. I was determined that I would not have family or friends on this board. I wanted to do i t r ight and receive honest feedback every step of the way. I wasn’t doing this for me, I was doing this for Pittsburgh and beyond.

The board came together quickly. Rob Rogers, an editorial cartoonist and former president of the Editorial Cartoonists Association, became our President. I worked closely with him to build the rest of the board of directors, which was a mix of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and artists.

In June of 2007, we opened our first exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh with help from our first sponsor, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The first exhibit was entitled “From Illustration to Animation” and showed the process of turning a children's book into an animated cartoon. The exhibit featured original art from several children’s classic animated cartoons including Horton Hears a Who, Charlotte’s Web, Berenstein Bears, Heidi and much more. It also featured storyboard, cels, sketches and notes, all which came from my personal collection. The exhibit was a success and set the standards we hold for exhibitions to this day:

Exhibit should contain original art, not reproductions.

Exhibits should show the creative process.

Exhibits should appeal to a wide audience when possible.

Artwork should be simply framed with a white mat and black frame.

Programming should complement all exhibits.

Staff and volunteers should be able to engage guests in informative dialogue about all of the art.

We went on to present twelve more exhibitions during our t ime at the Children’s Museum. Overall, it was a symbiotic relationship. W e brought the museum a new audience, quality exhibitions a nd we had a place to call home. However it was not a sustainable strategy. Without a revenue stream of admission, and the Children’s Museum’s demand to approve all grant applications, we could not grow.

It was a censorship issue, however, that led us to end our time with the children’s museum, clearly not all our content was fit for a children’s venue! It is our belief that art is an expression of freedom of speech. So like every comic book geek, we realized there comes a time when you must move out of your parent’s basement.


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Word hit the streets that the ToonSeum was looking to move and expand and I immediately received invites from around the country to move the ToonSeum to their cities. (A fact I hadn’t revealed to anyone until now! But the ToonSeum almost ended up in Georgia!) But in my heart I knew we belonged in Pittsburgh. We had built a strong support network of fans and foundations.

After a lot of site visits and research, we moved to downtown Pittsburgh at the invite of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. We decided to find a private landlord within the Cultural District, making us the only independent arts organization not renting off the trust within the Cultural District of Pittsburgh. We had learned from our relationship with the Children’s Museum that a cartoon art museum had to be completely independent of editorial influences from outside the i nstitution. And w ith greatly appreciated f unding f rom the G rable Foundation we were able to complete the move in 2009.

We op ened ou r d oors t o g reat f anfare a nd e nthusiasm. M uch to ou r g ratitude, t he f ront page o f bo th l ocal pa pers c overed o ur o pening e vent w ith legendary j azz mu sician a nd composer of the music for the classic cartoon School House Rocks. The ToonSeum was home and guests were beginning to trek from all over the world to see our Akira Exhibition, Gertie the D inosaur, and now over 2000 pieces rotating through our gallery. We acquired large collections from the now defunct Cartoon Art Museum in Ticonderoga, New York, as well as some pieces from Mort Walkers International Cartoon Art Museum.

For two years we would be i n ou r humble s torefront i n downtown P ittsburgh. A small g ift shop was run by a local comic store, but again we longed for independence and growth.

In 2011 a few opportunities arose and we made two big decisions. The g ift shop was now run solely by the Toonseum instead of a previously independent retailer, which in turn would increase b oth r esponsibility a nd r evenues. When t he t iming w as r ight w e w ould u se t he revenue t o expand ou r gallery d oors. In 2011 the Toonseum a lso added a second ga llery and outdoor courtyard. The gallery was named after Pittsburgh native, cartoonist and producer Lou Scheimer of Filmation. He was best known for his work on He-Man, Fat Albertand the Archies. He cut the ribbon using a replica of He-Man’s Power Sword from the 1982 Macy's Day Parade!

The space befits us. It is located on a culturally diverse and quirky block. Our courtyard features three cartoon-like musician statues that predate us but fit our space well. We have become the anchor of a pop culture tourism movement in Pittsburgh. In 2011, the much-anticipated film The Dark Knight Rises was filmed directly in front of the ToonSeum. We had a superhero exhibit at the time and the special guest was legendary Joker creator Jerry Robinson. It was with great delight we welcomed Dark Knight director Chris Nolan for a visit. It was a real highlight and no doubt with the release of Dark Knight Rises we will see even more tourists making the pilgrimage to Pittsburgh, The Birth Place of Pop Culture! There have been far too many exhibits, programs, guests, partnerships, and more to list here. All of them are wonderful moments in the ToonSeum brief history.

While I l ook f orward to c ontinued g rowth, n ew e xhibits a nd e xciting p rograms at the ToonSeum, I h ave a lways r ecognized t hat t his mu seum h as n ever b een a bout me . It i s about our fans, our volunteers and our staff. They make every day a delight to be here. I am surrounded not just by the art that has inspired me, but by people who inspire me. I could not h ave d one th is w ithout o ur bo ard a nd dedicated v olunteers. My r ight h and, M andi Bridgeman, has t ruly been a godsend who has helped us g row our f an-base by l eaps and bounds. W e c ontinue to gr ow, a nd i n 2 013 w e w ill be h onored to host th e National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards, the first time our city has hosted in the NCS’s almost 70


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year history. We have also taken a lead role in hosting a US Cartoon Museum Conference in Pittsburgh in late 2012 (Inspired by my participation in this conference!)

As M ort W alker warned m e, t here would b e g reat p ersonal s acrifice, b ut n ot a m inute of regret. I l ook f orward t o t he c oming years o f new exhibitions, new fans, new f riends and new collaborations.

And perhaps… an exhibition or two of ours touring the world. But that is up to all of you.

Joe Wos

Connect through heroes, exhibitions and courage


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Humour as lever to the Museum work… The PortoCartoon was a small adventure in the great adventure of the Portuguese Printing Press Museum. At the museum’s inauguration in 1997, the Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio asked about the capacity of the museum to organize every year a festival of this magnitude. Would t his b e t oo m uch a udacious? - He a sked m e. It m ay b e, I said. T he museum i tself has the mark of courage. So let's see how the cartoonists around the world will answer our call. They will have the answer.

My calm response hid some fear. We knew that other festivals and competitions were well established in some countries. We knew that space was not that wide for PortoCartoon, but daring do esn’t c ost a th ing. We h ad d one a s urvey o f t he existing initiatives a nd t heir features. R ight f rom t he beginning w e chose to have an international strong theme as a distinctive feature, together with other aspects that proved to make the difference we wanted to take on the valorisation of the cartoon as a kind of journalistic intervention.

This was a feature that we assume since the beginning: the cartoon is a journalistic style. Since t he fi rst ca talogue t his w as m arked, even t hough k nowing t hat t he J ournalism manuals do not assume this... This is one of the main reasons for the close relationship between a p rinting p ress museum and a permanent space f or cartoons. The International Cartoon Gallery is certainly one of the few places in the world of graphic humour that is daily open: 365 days/year. Or 366, as 2012 is a leap year!

In these few years of PortoCartoon and International Cartoon Gallery existence, the humour has served as a lever to the Museum work. It has been spread either by the city of Porto, or by other Portuguese and foreign cities. This humour brings and takes stories with it.

Later, i n 1 999, t here was also another story with the same Portuguese President, at the inauguration of the International Cartoon Gallery. The spongy ground, the little lighting and the sensors caused some fear and hesitation at the entrance. The President Jorge Sampaio hesitated, but s oon m oved f orward a nd found h imself in a d istortion m irror o f a uto-caricature, and enjoyed seeing himself distorted in different ways. Unlike a lady who stood beside him and said "oh what a fear!". She turned back and was never seen again. Humour can also be scary!!!

The idea that humour can scare is more present in its relationship with power. Since ever cartoons frighten the powerful. Since before Daumier and also after him. This is one of the virtues of his intervention. Humour is one of the few truths, proud and serious in the world of unbelief, untruth and inhumanity.

Luís Humberto MarcosCartoon Virtual Museum

Connect through press, adventure and courage


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Cartoons and local history Het Markiezenhof, museum and archives Bergen op Zoom

Het Markiezenhof is the oldest town palace in the Netherlands. It was originally built in the late 15th century. Nowadays Het Markiezenhof is a museum and it houses the municipal archives. The museum focuses on the history of the town and region, the history of the fairground and on exhibitions of international political cartoons since 1900.

Museum of international political cartoons

New exhibitions regularly take place where well-known and less well-known political cartoons are displayed. Moreover Het Markiezenhof offers a forum for international political cartoonists.

Cartoon festival

The Dutch Cartoon Festival takes place every two years. This festival is centred on a main contemporary theme. The hundred best cartoons are on show in Het Markiezenhof.

Cartoonists from all over the world are invited to participate in this international contest. We ensure the publicity and publish the cartoon book with the 100 best cartoons which are exhibited in the museum.

Collection of international political cartoons

The museum plays a role in the recognition of political cartoons as valid artistic registration of important political and social topics. Het Markiezenhof not only organizes exhibitions; it also maintains a collection of international political cartoons from 1900 onwards and has built up a large collection.

Temporary exhibition

CarTOENs, vijftig momenten uit de geschiedenis van Bergen op Zoom (50 moments out of our town’s history)

The initial idea for this exhibition is the 800th anniversary of the city of Bergen op Zoom.

Cartoons are showing in a playful manner the history of the city.In this exhibition, we work with the best political cartoonists of the Netherlands. There is also a close cooperation with schools in the region, who are involved in this project

We have worked together with teachers, lectures and the foundation Pers & Prent. With this exhibition we had the attention of different newspapers, they published an article about the unique occasion.

We have published a cartoon book, this book is sold through the bookshops of Bergen op Zoom and the Tourist Office. In the booklet CarTOENs is a drawing of an 11 year old boy, who’s dream is to become a real cartoonist one day. One of the participating artists is his


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great example. The Exhibition CarTOENs attracts a wide audience, what makes it so successful. The exhibition includes not only drawings of artists but also from pupils of primary schools. By connecting the different groups, we hope to create a beautiful and instructive exhibition.

Connect through humor, history and contests


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Exhibition Instant Kama, drawings and movies of Kamagurka During the summer of 2006 I organized in the Press Museum the exhibition Instant Kama, showing d rawings a nd m ovies of t he m ost fa mous a nd m ulti-talented d rawer of B elgium, Kamagurka. Drawings and movies for NRC H andelsblad and Vrij N ederland, t ogether w ith movies f or NRC-TV. In t he w eek b efore t he opening, K ama c reated o n t hat o ccasion t wo enormous paintings on the walls of the museum. The most recent drawings were not simply presented o n t he w all, b ut w ere “ drying” o n a c lothesline! S o, enough i ngredients f or a beautiful exhibition, but where was the real actuality that may not been lost of s ight in a Press Museum?!

During th is t ime, 6 years ago n ow, Kama sent a f ax w ith h is d rawing t o t he redaction of NRC, every day round 12.30. A brainstorm brought us to the idea to fix such a fax on the ceiling o f t he m useum as a k ind o f “message m achine” fr om t he sk y. A t t he sa me t ime, while forwarding h is drawing to the newspaper, this drawing came f luttering f rom the sky into the museum. A t t he announced t ime a l ot o f v isitors especially came to the museum hoping to c atch t he d rawing a nd s o t o b e a ble t o a dmire it f our h ours earlier t han t he average NRC r eader. S ome were s taying impatiently under t he f ax, i n case i t would have lasted longer than expected.

Finally, one of the most successful exhibitions of the Press Museum and one of the most challenging. I was also catching the drawing when there were not many visitors round this time.

Niels Beugeling

Connect through exhibitions, press and fresh ideas

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