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"...their best cartoons are not published"
Public Radio
Kyiv, Ukraine
11 December 2002
It is impossible now to place a cartoon of the president in the Ukrainian
printed media, says director of non-profit Mytets (Artist) organization
cartoonist Volodymyr Kazanevsky, speaking on the occasion of the
second seminar of Ukrainian cartoonists in Kyiv.
Every year, the US president invites to the White House the cartoonists
who portrayed him in the ugliest form. Instead of torture and fines, the
American president offers a lavish meal and various awards to unruly
artists, because being portrayed by cartoonists is the best publicity any
politician can dream of. In America, cartoonists are like journalists,
presenting their vision of political issues by means of satirical portrayal.
That was the point made to his Ukrainian colleagues at the seminar by
president of the World Organization of Cartoonists Bruce Russell. He says
he came to Ukraine because local cartoonists must be protected from
politicians, not vice versa. "We have come to Ukraine to help Ukrainian
cartoonists defend their human rights, and we have met with a large number
of artists. Although none of them seems to be threatened with immediate
reprisals, we had a feeling that our Ukrainian colleagues are utterly
frustrated because their best cartoons are not published".
Once cartoonist En Telnes (USA) was awarded a Pulitzer prize for a series
of cartoons about George Bush, depicting Bush as Vice President Richard
Cheney's wife and Monica Lewinski's dress. Ukrainian cartoonists stand
little chance of winning any awards for their cartoons depicting Leonid
Kuchma, because publication of a cartoon about the president is a taboo
here, Kazanevsky stresses. "We have never had any head-on collisions
with the president. Still, if such cartoons are offered to media outlets,
not a single one of them will be accepted by any paper. Period," he
grumbles.
So far, unlike practices existing in third world countries, not a single
Ukrainian cartoonist has been put behind bars by the regime. However,
several attempts have been made by officials to take them to court. For
the time being, Ukrainian cartoonists have been successful flouting court
warrants. Given any signs reprisals, they are prepared to appeal to the
World Organization of Cartoonists that stands by the rights of cartoonists.
With many international awards and prizes to their credit, the track record
of Ukrainian cartoonists is very impressive. In the last ten years alone
they have netted five hundred international awards.
Sadly, it is only in Ukraine that cartoonists are not in the public eye.
Says Volodymyr Kazanevsky, "Editors just say: "Yes, it's a great cartoon
but I am not going to publish it, because my paper will be history
tomorrow". The reason is as simple as that," Kazanevsky sums up.
Public Radio, Kyiv, Ukraine
http://www.news.org.ua/reports/?eid=&id_numb=911
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