This is what The Hoot says about the episode.....
“For those in France, free speech is an absolute. France makes a fetish of it. but that does not necessarily have to be the model for the rest of the world.” Indian cartoonists on free expression and its limits (From left to right: HEMANT MORPARIA, ASEEM TRIVEDI and UTTAM GHOSH).
The dastardly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the killing of ten journalists of the magazine and two police officers on Jan 8, 2014, has brought into sharp focus the contours of free speech and the limitations to it.
It has also cast the spotlight on the contentious role played by cartoonists who use satire to push the boundaries of free speech beyond what is considered unacceptable. Of all forms of free speech, does satire occupy a privileged position? Or, must it be subject to all the restrictions of social norms on giving offence?
Would cartoonists classify Charlie Hebdo's cartoons as an expression of free speech, which includes the right to offend, or as deliberate provocation? How do cartoonists respond to the attacks and how will it affect the practice of their art?
The Hoot put these questions to cartoonists in India.
Hemant Morparia, cartoonist and doctor, who participated in an exhibition with Georges Wolinski, one of the cartoonists who died in the shootings in the Charlie Hebdo office.
I think, as a cartoonist, the boundaries are set by you. But how you are received is not up to you.
About the Charlie Hebdo attack, what is often missed in all of this is the cultural context. For those in France, free speech is an absolute. France makes a fetish of it, but that does not necessarily have to be the model for the rest of the world. The fetish comes from the early days in the 50s and the 60s with roots in Rousseau but this is not a template for the world..............
Uttam Ghosh, joint creative head, rediff.com
The Paris killings are an attack not just on cartoonists but free speech. The world it seems is being taken over by religious fundamentalists. As a cartoonist and artist, I still cannot forget how one of our greatest painters, MF Hussain, was treated in our own country. How can these people even think of killing artists?
........................
Aseem Trivedi, cartoonist, charged with sedition (dropped after a country-wide protest) for his cartoons:
Several years ago, I had made a cartoon on a similar issue and my friends advised me to remove it.I think we weren’t so mature then to discuss the implications of such cartoons so I removed it...................
Read more at: "Nobody wants to die for a cartoon"
“For those in France, free speech is an absolute. France makes a fetish of it. but that does not necessarily have to be the model for the rest of the world.” Indian cartoonists on free expression and its limits (From left to right: HEMANT MORPARIA, ASEEM TRIVEDI and UTTAM GHOSH).
The dastardly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the killing of ten journalists of the magazine and two police officers on Jan 8, 2014, has brought into sharp focus the contours of free speech and the limitations to it.
It has also cast the spotlight on the contentious role played by cartoonists who use satire to push the boundaries of free speech beyond what is considered unacceptable. Of all forms of free speech, does satire occupy a privileged position? Or, must it be subject to all the restrictions of social norms on giving offence?
Would cartoonists classify Charlie Hebdo's cartoons as an expression of free speech, which includes the right to offend, or as deliberate provocation? How do cartoonists respond to the attacks and how will it affect the practice of their art?
The Hoot put these questions to cartoonists in India.
Hemant Morparia, cartoonist and doctor, who participated in an exhibition with Georges Wolinski, one of the cartoonists who died in the shootings in the Charlie Hebdo office.
I think, as a cartoonist, the boundaries are set by you. But how you are received is not up to you.
About the Charlie Hebdo attack, what is often missed in all of this is the cultural context. For those in France, free speech is an absolute. France makes a fetish of it, but that does not necessarily have to be the model for the rest of the world. The fetish comes from the early days in the 50s and the 60s with roots in Rousseau but this is not a template for the world..............
Uttam Ghosh, joint creative head, rediff.com
The Paris killings are an attack not just on cartoonists but free speech. The world it seems is being taken over by religious fundamentalists. As a cartoonist and artist, I still cannot forget how one of our greatest painters, MF Hussain, was treated in our own country. How can these people even think of killing artists?
........................
Aseem Trivedi, cartoonist, charged with sedition (dropped after a country-wide protest) for his cartoons:
Several years ago, I had made a cartoon on a similar issue and my friends advised me to remove it.I think we weren’t so mature then to discuss the implications of such cartoons so I removed it...................
Read more at: "Nobody wants to die for a cartoon"
