In anticipation of the next step in his sedition trial, Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar has launched a daring open-air exhibition of his works in a busy urban area near Kuala Lumpur. Although he risks being censored or even arrested again,…
Category: International
Turkish Cartoonists Discuss Post-Coup State of Free Speech
Since the attempted coup in Turkey, the country’s administration has been arresting and silencing journalists and cartoonists in the country, so Cartoon Movement sat down with four cartoonists — Menekse Cam, Emrah Arikan, Halit Kurtulmus and Oguz Gurel — to discuss the state of affairs and what it means to…
Egyptian Court Denies Naji’s Second Request for Release Pending Appeal
Egyptian author Ahmed Naji’s second request to be released from prison pending an appeal in his obscenity case was denied last week, meaning he will continue to serve his two-year sentence for “violating public modesty” until a higher court decides…
CRNI Courage Award Goes to Refugee Cartoonist in Australian Detention Center
The 2016 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award from Cartoonists Rights Network International will go to an Iranian refugee cartoonist who goes by the name Eaten Fish, the advocacy group announced on Friday. Eaten Fish is currently held in a refugee…
Nigerian Women Fight Back Against Oppression with Romance Novels
A new, unconventional literary movement is taking hold in Nigeria in the form of romance novels. Called “love literature,” dozens of women are printing and even hand-writing thousands of novellas with the intent of speaking out against and challenging certain social…
Chief Censor Talks About the Evolution of Censorship in New Zealand
From the initially successful and then rescinded ban of the award-winning coming of age novel Into the River in 2015, an 18+ rating on Alan Moore’s Lost Girls in 2014, or the seizure of the classic 1970s book Bloody Mama in 2011, New…
New Zealand Newspaper Shocked to Find Adult Comic in Adult Section of Library
A New Zealand newspaper seems to be looking for controversy where there is none, suggesting in a recent article that Brandon Graham’s erotic comic Perverts of the Unknown may be inappropriate for local library collections even though it’s correctly shelved…
Turkish Cartoonist Arrested Along With Newspaper Colleagues
Turkish-born cartoonist Dogan Güzel has been arrested in Istanbul along with more than 20 colleagues from the Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, which has also been shut down by government order. Güzel, the recipient of Cartoonists Rights Network International’s very first…
Jordanian Writer Charged With Blasphemy for Sharing Cartoon
A Jordanian writer turned himself in over the weekend to face charges of insulting Islam with a cartoon that he shared on Facebook intending to mock the worldview of ISIS fighters. Nahed Hattar, a controversial left-wing Christian columnist and staunch…
Kashmiri Protest Art Blinds Icons As Resistance
Gandhi, Van Gogh, and Mona Lisa are peering out from bloodied bandaged eyes in new art by cartoonist Mir Suhail, who aims to raise awareness of the consequences of “non-lethal” pellet guns that are causing a wave of deaths, blindings, and mutilations among Kashmiri protestors.…