United Nations Responds to Cartoon Controversy: "Cartooning for Peace" The Responsibility of Political Cartoonists? October 16, 2006

The anger and divisiveness engendered by the publication of the caricature of Prophet Mohammed and the recent controversial exhibit on the Holocaust, suggest both a sense of the power and the necessity of responsibility, in the art of cartooning. The UN will hold a one day conference titled, "Cartooning for Peace" The Responsibility of Political Cartoonists? at UN headquarters in NY on October 16, 2006. The conference is open to the public and free to register. for more information, visit: www.un.org/chronicle

(PRWEB) October 12, 2006 -- The fifth seminar in the “Unlearning Intolerance” seminar series of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), entitled “Cartooning for Peace”, will focus on the nature of editorial cartooning and the responsibility of cartoonists in promoting peace issues. The seminar will be held at UN Headquarters in New York on 16 October from 10:30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium and has been partly sponsored by the Emory University’s Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning.

The anger and divisiveness engendered by the publication of the caricature of Prophet Mohammed and the recent controversial exhibit on the Holocaust, suggest both a sense of the power and the necessity of responsibility, in the art of cartooning. The choice of this particular topic at the present time will, we hope, offer another opportunity for the United Nations to be a forum where difficult, but necessary, questions are raised and addressed, not only to suggest answers but to spur non-confrontational thought, debate, and enquiry.

Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Shashi Tharoor, will introduce the programme that will begin with the opening remarks from Secretary-General Kofi Annan and a keynote address by the famous French cartoonist, Jean Plantu, who has worked with Le Monde since 1972. The panel discussion, in the morning, will focus on, “The Role of Cartoons in Educating about Political and Social Issues”; followed by a press conference in the second floor briefing room at 12:30 pm, to be convened by 1:00 PM. The panel discussion in the afternoon, at 2:30 pm, will focus on, “Reconciling Rights and Responsibilities”. Please read the agenda, below, for details.

Featured panelists will include Moustafa Hussein, editorial cartoonist from Egypt, who has worked for the 30 years for the Cairo daily, Ahmad-Raga; Israeli cartoonists, Michel Kichka, who is an illustrator in Jerusalem; Bahaaeldin Albokhari from Palestine who works in Ramallah for the Palestinian daily, Al Ayyam; Iranian cartoonist Hassan Karimzadeh; Japanese cartoonist Norio Yamanoi; Liza Donnelly from the US who is a cartoonist with the New Yorker magazine; Danish cartoonist Carsten Graabæk; Cintia Bolio, an editorial cartoonist from Mexico; Ranan Lurie, an American editorial cartoonists, who created the The Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Awards in 2000; Kenyan editorial cartoonist,Godfrey Amon Mwampwemba (GADO), who in 1999 was named Kenya Cartoonist of the Year; and Ann Telnaes, a Pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist. The seminar will be webcast live at: http://www.un.org/webcast.

Following the seminar, Under-Secretary-General Tharoor will inaugurate a traveling exhibit entitled, “Cartooning for Peace”. A special viewing and reception will take place from 6-8 p.m. in the Visitors' Lobby at UN Headquarters with some of the cartoonists present. The exhibition, organized by DPI in association with St. Just, will showcase the work of cartoonists from Belgium, Egypt, France, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Palestine, Switzerland, and the United States. The exhibit will travel to Geneva at the end of 2006 and will reach Brussels in 2007.

The “Unlearning Intolerance” seminar series was launched by the Outreach Division of the DPI on 21 June 2004 in order to examine different manifestations of intolerance and explore ways to promote respect and understanding among peoples. It offers opportunities to discuss how intolerance, wherever it exists and for whatever reason, can be “unlearned” through education, inclusion and example. The first seminar, “Confronting Anti-Semitism: Education for Tolerance and Understanding”, was held on 21 June 2004; the second, “Confronting Islamophobia: Education for Tolerance and Understanding”, on 7 December 2004; the third, “Fanning the Flame of Tolerance: The Role of the Media”, on 3 May 2005 as part of the World Press Freedom Day commemoration; and the fourth, “Critical Perspectives in Combating Genocide: What We Can Do to Prevent. What We Can Do During. What We Must Do After”. Coverage of these three seminars and text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s opening remarks are online at http://www.un.org/chronicle.

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