Thursday, 21st March 2019 at 7 pm
Hall of the Geographical Museum GIAM ZRC SAZU
Gosposka ulica 16, Ljubljana
Great figures of Serbian political cartoon drawing will hold workshop together for the first time in Ljubljana, with special emphasis on the current political situation in Serbia, where they both live and work. Right before the beginning of massive anti-government protests “One of five million” which have been held in Belgrade and multiple cities and towns in Serbia for several months, an exhibition of Corax and Petričić had been banned in Lazarevac, near Belgrade. They are aiming their acerbic pens at those who rule and have the power in their hands, as well as at social occurrences which are a direct reflection of the way the establishment rules.
The most famous Serbian political cartoonists will talk about what political cartoon is nowadays, about the elements of a good caricature and its change throughout history, its role, importance and power it has in society and as a close companion to social changes and revolutions.
How does political cartoon function on different levels: visual, journalistic, political, psychological and how much does it reflect the state of mind of a society in a certain period? Why is the political cartoon called the mirror and conscience of society? What is the relation between political cartoon and political correctness?
As a satirical journalistic genre, the political cartoon is, although funny, very serious and effective, which is why it is often targeted by those in power on one hand, while it is the means of political awakening and mobilization for social change on the other. Mocking politicians in Serbia has a historical continuity, and in this workshop, the legendary political cartoonists will concentrate on commenting the political cartoon starting from the regime of Slobodan Milošević to Aleksandar Vučić. They will put special emphasis on the role of political cartoon in the current anti-government mass protests in Serbia.
Corax and Petričić will present several political cartoons published in magazines in Serbia and shown in exhibitions.
Predrag Koraksić Corax has been publishing political cartoons since 1950, first in the magazine Jež, and then also in the daily newspaper Rad, where he subsequently obtained permanent employment. He joined Večernje Novosti in 1958 and worked there for more than 50 years. The newspaper started an internal procedure against him due to his refusal to comply with the editorial policy in 1990, which resulted in his dismissal. Then he moved to the weekly magazine Vreme, where he contributed from the first issue and continued to do so after his retirement. However, he stopped contributing to the magazine in 2005 due to disagreement with the editorial policy. In the late 80s and early 90s, he worked for a number of independent papers, which were shut down one after the other due to repression of the regime. He has worked for the daily newspaper Danas since 1998 and published current political cartoons every day. He also contributes to the portals Slobodna Evropa and Peščanik. He occasionally publishes his cartoons in foreign magazines as well. He has had numerous solo exhibitions and has been awarded all major prizes for his achievements in the field of political cartoons, ethics and courage. He was rewarded French Légion d'honneur by the French Republic.
Dušan Petričić has spent his entire professional carrier working simultaneously as a political cartoonist and children’s book and picture book illustrator. He graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Department of Design in Belgrade in the class of professor Bogdan Kršić in 1969. He worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for The Toronto Star, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, Večernje Novosti, Politika, Nin and many other newspapers and magazines. He has illustrated more than fifty children’s books and picture books in the USA, Canada, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Macedonia and Slovenia. He has been awarded numerous prizes worldwide - Tokyo, Ankara, Belgrade, New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Skopje, Budapest, Moscow, Amsterdam. After having spent twenty years in Canada, he has lived and worked in Belgrade since 2014. In the last ten years, he has been very actively recording events on the social, political and cultural stage in Serbia in his political cartoons, first on the pages of the daily newspaper Politika, and since 2016, when the new editorial board terminated his contract for political reasons, he has been publishing his cartoons in the weekly magazine Nin.
More information on namrezi@dkis.si
