Cartoons depicting Asian women display here

JAKARTA (JP): The Japan Foundation Forum of Tokyo is organizing an exhibition of social and political cartoons around a theme of "Women of My Country" between July 10 and Aug. 10 that will travel to Japan's big cities.

The exhibition features 110 cartoons by 11 artists from the ASEAN countries of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, as well as India, China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

The ongoing exhibition depicts Asian women's lives, including their education, social and family life, favorite work and recreation.

Indonesia is represented by Mochamad Fauzie (Uzie) from Jakarta Jakarta magazine. One of his works being displayed is a cartoon on sexual harassment that portrays a woman frowning upon finding a condom on her seat while her male colleagues are in fits of laughter in the hall. "Working women frequently accept sexual harassment from colleagues. From dirty jokes to a condom on their seat are some of the tricks," Uzie says.

In his other cartoon commentaries, Uzie addresses the issue of a woman's virginity. "Virginity is still sacred in a holly matrimony. Some men have accepted the 'not-virgin brides', but some others do not. Those who find that their brides are not virgins might divorce the women soon after the marriage. There are also others who take advantage of the situation by practicing polygamy. Yes, this is really unfair," he writes.

The Japan Foundation Forum has organized the exhibition every year since 1990.

The organizing committee has invited the cartoonists to Japan to participate in discussions about cartoons and tour the Osamu Tezuka cartoon museum in Takarazuka and the Cartoon Art Museum in Omiya.

Omiya, which is known as "the city of Japanese cartoonists," is the hometown of the pioneer of modern Japanese cartoons, Kitazawa Rakuten. Omiya has hosted an annual international cartoon festival since 1991. (sim)