BENGALURU: Art is often known to hold up a mirror to society. Just ask US-based political cartoonist Daryl Cagle, whose cartoons don’t mince any ideas. City residents can now get a glimpse of his work, which is currently being exhibited at Indian Cartoon Gallery, and will continue till March 27. Over a career spanning 40 years, Cagle, has seen it all when it comes to the media’s transition from print to broadcast to digital. “Editorial cartoons are an important part of journalism, and like other journalists, we’ve suffered from the decline of print publications. The internet hasn’t developed a culture of paying for content. Also, like other journalists, cartoonists increasingly suffer from repressive regimes – political cartoonists around the world are tortured, imprisoned, sued and sometimes killed,” says Cagle.
Giving the internet some credit, he adds that his work has been seen by more people than ever before. He has worked with Jim Henson’s Muppets for close to 20 years and was an advertising illustrator as well. His preference, however, goes towards being an editorial cartoonist. “I draw in my own style, I draw what I choose to draw and express my own opinions. Being an editorial cartoonist is much more rewarding than being an illustrator,” says Cagle, who likes the works of Indian cartoonists Shankar Parmarthy and Paresh Nath.
He does agree that speaking the truth can have consequences as well, especially with editorial cartoonists being tagged ‘anti-government’. “Cartoonists speak the truth about power and often anger the people in power. That is not being ‘anti-government’, it is an important part of democracy. Editorial cartoonists are often courageous. In countries like India, cartoonists can be thrown in jail when governments don’t like their cartoons. It is more accurate to say that many governments are ‘anti-cartoon’,” he says, adding that the world is becoming more dangerous for journalists and editorial cartoonists in particular.
He lists out instances to support his point: Cartoonist friends in France who were murdered by terrorists; last week a cartoonist in Bangladesh, Ahmed Kabir Kishore, who was released from prison, pending trial for the crime of posting cartoons on Facebook that were critical of his government’s Covid response, and so on. Currently, Ahmed is in the hospital and suffers permanent hearing loss from torture he suffered in prison. Cagle says, “I’m fortunate to live in the United States where I don’t have to fear for my safety. The most trouble I have received is angry emails and newspapers cancelling their subscriptions.”The cartoons are on display at Indian Cartoon Gallery till March 27