Editorial cartoonists are essentially artists with a quirky sense of humor. Through their exaggerated and often distorted drawings they draw attention to social and political issues.
Their work is the funny bone of a newspaper, and in recent years these artists have been given more freedom to express themselves. Recently the First Arabian Caricature Festival was held at Jeddah’s Serafi Mega Mall to celebrate this satirical art.
The two-day festival, which took place April 9-10, displayed 250 drawings by 22 editorial cartoonists from all over the Middle East. Sponsored by Priority Option, the festival also held a caricature contest to encourage new artists.
Five local artists won the competititon: Yazeed Al-Harthi, Jalal AlBkheet, Hussein Baswaid, Hussam Al-Zaharani and Hind Al-Afnan.
AlBkheet, a 33-year-old caricaturist and an art and literature page editor at a local magazine, said the festival has helped pave the way for new young talents.
“The festival gave support and a boost to new artists,” he said. “With many popular Arabian artists attending the festival, we discovered many new talented names.”
AlBkheet said that editorial cartoonists should be given more freedom to express themselves.
“Freedom of expression has opened up to an extent, but not as much as we would like it to be,” he said. “However with the support of festivals like this and newspapers, we are optimistic about our future,” he said.
He also said that local newspapers are not providing opportunities for new artists.
“New talents are not getting any support from either the Ministry of Information or local newspapers,” said AlBkheet.
Baswaid, a 29-year-old editorial cartoonist with a master’s degree in marketing, developed his passion for drawing at the age of 15. He participated in a number of art exhibitions and contests before he decided to draw caricatures for a local newspaper.
“Although I was one of the five winners, I am still frustrated with how the caricature art is treated in the Kingdom,” he said. “The past five years have been very exciting. The art has developed and changed; artists have become more bold and have more courage to present more social and political matters in their art.”
Hussein also agreed that the festival would give a boost to other artists.
Hana Hajjar, one of the first Saudi female caricaturists (and an Arab News contributor) was one of two women artists who were honored at the festival. Job opportunities for Saudi women are limited as many companies shy away from hiring women employees, but Hana said things are changing.
“It used to be a field that was dominated by men but now we have opened the road for other women to speak out,” she said. “This festival is a leap for the caricature art and I am honored to be awarded among these great artists.”
Hind Al-Afnan, 24, said that she participated by coincidence after a phone call from the organizing committee.
Hind started as a editorial cartoonist a year ago.
“I wanted to work in a newspaper and I found myself creative when it comes to drawing caricatures,” she said.
Hind was hopeful that by participating in the festival, her career would get a boost.
“I participated in the festival because I wanted a starting point for my career,” she said. “I believe the festival is the only supporting hand. I tried so many times to publish my drawings, but with no luck.”
Hussam Al-Zahrani, a 22-year-old student at KAU Faculty Environmental Designs and the youngest of the five winners, was also looking to boost his profile. Al-Zahrani participated in online forums and in his university’s school newspaper. The festival is considered his first actual professional exposure.
However, he also thinks that the art is not being supported from Saudi society.
“Our society see these cartoons only as something that makes them laugh for a few seconds and not as real art,” he said. “Also, the press has opened up and publish caricatures on bolder matters, such as social or political subjects. This is due to the Internet pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression.”
Hussam said that several caricaturists had requested the government to establish a society for caricature artists so new artists can get more exposure and so the art may develop.
The festival honored a number of the Arabian caricature pioneers. Ahmed Toghan and Mustafa M. Hussein from Egypt, Mohammed A. Farzat from Syria and Emad Hajjaj from Jordan.
