More Than a Cartoon
My conversation with
@SpireJim this morning was an education in something I had never really stopped to think about: political cartooning in Uganda.
Most of our major newspapers have a political cartoonist. In fact, one of the things I rarely miss is the cartoon of the day.
I look at it. I smile. Sometimes I laugh. Sometimes I wince.
But I had never stopped to wonder about the art form itself.
Who are Ugandaβs political cartoonists? Who is nurturing the next generation? And why does political cartooning receive so little attention in our art schools?
Among the many things Spire is known for are his political cartoons. But behind the wit and clever drawings is a harder reality.
Political cartooning can be risky work. Cartoonists comment on power, politics and the issues society is wrestling with, sometimes saying through one image what might take an entire newspaper column to explain.
And yet, Spire told me, political cartooning rarely pays the bills.
We enjoy the cartoon. We share it. We laugh at its cleverness. But do we value the artist and the creative process behind it?
Then came something else I had never thought about: women.
Spire knows the community of political cartoonists across Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania well. By his estimation, about 99% of them are men.
What perspectives are we missing because so few women are drawing our politics and society back to us?
We agreed that political cartooning is a form of art and social commentary that needs intentional nurturing: in our art schools, among emerging artists, and especially among women.
I began the morning simply as someone who enjoys the cartoon of the day.
I finished our walk understanding that behind that one frame is an entire craft, a commentary on society, and a community of artists whose future deserves our attention.
Thank you, Spire, for a wonderfully thought-provoking walk.
#WalkTalkConnect #PoliticalCartooning #AfricanCreatives