recent political turmoil – military intervention, the
king’s death and street protests. Manit Sriwanichpoom,
who uses photography and video to raise social and
political issues, was uneasy when he made visuals
poking fun at the army government. “No government
likes criticism... I was so worried that the army might
call me to go through [an] ‘attitude adjustment’
programme like other commentators, but the show
went on smoothly,” he says.
Activism in art was important, he felt. “I care
about my society... I don’t want to live my life with
fear. There is no other way but to do what I got to do,”
he says. FEAR passed without incident.
Elsewhere though, exhibitions have turned violent.
In November last year in Penang, Malaysia, a mob
of 30 people aligned to the ruling party stormed an
exhibition of Zunar’s cartoons. The mob surroundedAfter the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Ai launched
a “citizen’s investigation” on the deaths of children in
response to the government’s lack of transparency.
Shoddy construction was blamed for part of the
destruction. Ai collected names of more than 5,000
children, and later honoured them in exhibitions.
Despite a near-fatal beating – which required
emergency brain surgery – solitary confinement, and
a four-year travel ban, he is resolute and unrelenting.
In 2011, Ai was named “the most powerful person in
the art world” by ArtReview magazine. He has also
received Amnesty International’s Ambassador of
Conscience Award, for “exceptional leadership” in the
fight for human rights.
The limited confines artists have in China forced
one of the country’s leading cartoonists into exile in
Australia. He goes by the pen name Badiucao – for
“safety” reasons. After his account on the Chinese
social media site Weibo was shut down 30 times,
he took to Twitter to distribute his work. Within
China, people have to find a way around the infamous
“Great Firewall” to access his work, yet some still do.
Badiucao says:“I want to use my art to confront
the official record. It’s harder to censor visual language.”
In Turkey, the situation for renowned cartoonist
Musa Kart is dire. He has been behind bars for months,
after a failed coup last year. He was arrested along
with 18 other journalists and staff from the leading
opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet. Upon his arrest,
Kart was quoted as saying: “I have been taken into
police custody because I drew cartoons!”
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) called the
indictment of Cumhuriyet staff – which could
result in sentences of seven to 43 years in prison –
an “absolute disgrace”. RSF said earlier this year:
“Only too often, cartoonists pay a high price for
their irony and impertinence. The threats they receive
are barometers of free speech, acting as indicators
of the state of democracy in times of trouble.”
One of Asia’s more liberal countries is Thailand.
Yet last year, Amnesty International called for
the government to “relax” its grip on freedom of
expression. An exhibition entitled simply “FEAR”
captured the public concern for the future amidst
below Artist Manit
Sriwanichpoom’s exhibition
“FEAR” aimed to articulate
public concern for the future
amidst recent political
turmoil in ThailandIMAGE COURTESY OF MANIT SRIWANICHPOOM“I want to use my art to confront
the official record. It’s harder to
censor visual language”
Badiucao
cover story