The Cartooning New Year
Mana Neyestani, cartoon in support of Akram Raslan, 2015.
The cartooning year opens for the sixth year to the anniversary of the murders of six cartoonists and their editorial staff in Paris.
Cartoonists are prosecuted, tortured, exiled and killed and on a personal level suffer from PTSD and depression. To this we must add their meager or non-existent economy from exercising their profession.
Mana Neyestani created the cartoon above as homage to his Syrian colleague, Akram Raslan, who was murdered by the Assad Regime. The cartoonist died from his wounds from torture and the regime kept his death kept a secret for more than a year until his demise was eventually made official in 2015 too.
Beneath is Mana's cartoon at the exhibition Lige til Stregen (Right To The Line) at Vejle Art Museum in 1918. It carried a wall all on its own. It was not even framed, just the bare picture plane blending into the wall. The red pencil shone, symbolizing the freedom of media and the bleeding neck alike while its graphite drew on, never giving up hope.
All on its own on the wall and Mana's cartoon OWNED it.
The cartoon shown is courtesy of Mana Neyestani and must not be reproduced without his permission.
