The Conscience Of War
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| Badiucao, #STOPWAR, February 24, 2022. |
Cartoonists have the competence to react immediately upon a crime or catastrophe taking place giving it visual structure. They give presence to what is still unfathomable, making certain that is known what must not be overlooked or forgotten. They give us the means to breathe, to think beyond the exclamation marks of the moment, and ultimately the chance to react.
On Day One of the Russian war on Ukraine two cartoons in particular stood out. They happen to interact with to each other when seen together as if they were the challenge and the answer to each other. Furthermore they are both by cartoonists living in exile from endangering - and continuing to do so - their lives standing tall against dictatorship: Badiucao and Ahmed Falah.
We see the inclusion of well-known symbols such as the flag, the blood and tanks, which are here fused with the real persons on the line: Putin and his victim.
Badiucao incorporated the first photo taken of a bloodied face hours into the invasion with her flag and wounds. On the background of her national colours her eyes are penetrating us reaching for our conscience. She is all of Ukraine just as she is the embodiment of all that is lost in war.
To her direct challenge of acknowledging responsibility Ahmed Falah created the answer by way of that ageing neck with its sagging skin and thinning hair. His insistence of rising above mere humanity is all the more accentuated by his being so physically human. Putin does his utmost to remain out of reach, willfully rejecting all communication enclosed as he is within his own raptures. The latter is highlighted by the glowing red contour. The cartoon was first shown earlier in February.
Both cartoons fuse the question of conscience with the precision of life; two actual persons yesterday, the one the victim of the other. Once seen they stay with the inner eye.
Which cartoon ought to be shown first in this blog post? His refusal may seem all the stronger by following her plea. If so his guilt could be highlighted by being immediately followed by her. In the end it only felt right that she should be seen first.
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| Ahmed Falah, The Dictator Is Enjoying The Sound of War, February 14, 2022. |
