Say it with cartoons and nobody will feel humiliated
Say it with cartoons and nobody will feel humiliated
By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo
JAKARTA (JP): It is not easy to criticize without hurting
someone's feelings but things come easier for cartoonists. With
their humor, they can condemn society and the government while,
at the same time, put a smile on their face.
The Japan Foundation, together with Taman Impian Jaya Ancol
and the Indonesian Association of Cartoonists is currently
holding The Second Asian Cartoon Exhibition at the Art Market
Gallery, Ancol, North Jakarta, to June 26. The exhibition carries
the theme Asia -- The Population Issue in My Country Seen through
Cartoons.
It is a traveling exhibition, with Indonesia being the last
country visited.
The exhibition features 90 cartoons by artists from China,
Japan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and
Vietnam.
Unlike caricatures, cartoons do not refer to specific figures
in a society, rather they portray a certain trend, event,
political act or group in society.
Through his cartoon Bangkok Breakfast, Thai cartoonist Sia
depicts the lifestyle of a middle-class family. In his cartoon,
the family chooses to deal with Bangkok's frustrating traffic
jams by having breakfast in their car, on the way to work.
Situations like this have become a common solution accepted by
families throughout Asia.
Cho Kwan-jae from Korea voices a cultural complaint in The
plight of rural areas: bride shortage and Will women be the
superior sex in the 21st Century? where Cho tries to convey the
message that if cultural preference for having a boy instead of a
girl continues, the custom will eventually lead to an
evolutionary decay.
Indonesian cartoonist Koesnan Hoesi from Semarang-based
Wawasan evening daily seems to adopt common or popular themes in
his cartoons. Through Water World, the cartoonist portrays a
postapocalyptic world similar to that in the movie Waterworld.
In another cartoon, he modifies the tale of Noah, showing Noah
declining to bring a pair of humans onto his boat after
witnessing what humans have done to the world.
His most touching work in the exhibition may be a picture of
a spirit sadly leaving a cemetery. Titled Chased from their
graves the inscription below the cartoon explains that with
population growth and rapid urbanization, even the dead aren't
spared.
Uno Kamakiri of Japan subtly creates a parody out of the
commuting dilemma in his country in Commuter in a Lunch Box. The
cartoonist draws a large bento box filled with grains of rice
portraying the Japanese national flag traveling on top of a
railroad. Taking a closer look, the grains of rice are actually
human faces.
Xia Qingquan from China points to the lack of recreational
facilities in larger cities. In I Want to Fly a Kite, a man flies
his kite from the window of his high-rise apartment. In another
cartoon, a pair of workers play chess in the middle of a blocked
road using the lighting from streetlights.
A physicist by training, B.P. Unni from India creates a
satirical portrait of mismatched priorities in his country. In
one cartoon he mocks the scarcity of water compared to the
availability of Pepsi and Coca-Cola. In another, he criticizes
the pollution that threatens the Taj Mahal.