Crossing red lines

If you want to get the word out about a politically oriented cultural event, it can do your marketing cause no harm at all if you schedule it to coincide with the Knesset elections. Assaf Gamzou did just that with the new Red Lines show, which opens at the Israeli Cartoon Museum in Holon on, yes, March 17. The inference in the titular choice is pretty obvious. Caricatures are, by definition, designed to convey a multitude of messages, or one hard-hitting line of thought. “This is an exhibition that addresses the concept of freedom of expression, and democracy, through caricatures,” explains Gamzou, who curated the show, adding that violent developments abroad shuffled his cards somewhat. “Originally, we intended just to document the caricatures that appear in the media in the lead up to the elections here. But, following the murders at Charlie Hebdo, the dialogue became wider. Instead of focusing on the elections as an expression of democracy, it became a matter of looking at freedom of expression in general. In fact, the title Red Lines was added after what happened at Charlie Hebdo.” Gamzou says that, while we have our hands full in this part of the world, and there is certainly no shortage of raw material for local caricaturists to feed off, the tragic events in Paris sent shock waves over here too. “Even if we had wanted to ignore what happened over there [in putting together the Red Lines exhibition] we couldn't, because Israeli caricaturists also engaged in Charlie Hebdo for quite a while, and justifiably so.” Red Lines places the spotlight on the political caricature, examining the format's role in reflecting national and international current affairs, and as a powerful vehicle for freedom of expression in contemporary democratic society. One of the foremost proponents of the art, from the early years of the state until his death five years ago, at the age of 83, was Shmuel Katz. Katz was born in Vienna and spent World War II in Hungary where he and his parents were interned in the Miskolc Ghetto in 1944. He came to Palestine in 1947 and began publishing caricatures and illustrations in such popular newspapers and magazines of the time as Al Hamishmar, Davar Hashavua and IDF publication Bamahaneh. In the 1970s Katz became involved in the world of politics. In 1979 he accompanied journalist Smadar Sheffi when she interviewed Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in Cairo, producing a portrait of the interviewee. Katz's work will be celebrated at Red Lines with a display of two series of his creations, one based on the archetypal figure of the kibbutznik, kova tembel and all, while the Paris collage series is based on important classic works of art displayed in the French capital. The younger generation – at least vis-à-vis Katz and his contemporaries – will be represented with a display of works by 53-year-old Yaniv Shimoni. Shimoni is one of the country's top children's books illustrators and works in advertising design, comics art and set designing. The Shimoni slot in Red Lines will offer the public a glimpse of the caricature creation process. While the terrorist attack in Paris featured front and center in the Israeli caricaturist community for some time, Gamzou says that our artists were more up to the task of addressing the event than their counterparts overseas. “I think the Israeli caricaturist has a different attitude to, for instance, self-censorship than his fellow professional in Europe. The day after the Charlie Hebdo attack [Haaretz caricaturist Amos] Biderman wrote that he had not drawn Muhammad for some time because he was afraid. I think Biderman should be congratulated for his honesty, both in the caricatures he creates and also in the opinion column he wrote after the Paris attack. I don't know whether this is something that can be scientifically corroborated, but I think that, here, we sense terrorism on a daily basis. We are less naïve, and Islamic terror is something that we are more conscious of. And maybe it is that our caricaturists are generally willing to push the boat out a bit further.” Gamzou believes we need the perspective of time in order to assess how caricatures react to cataclysmic and other major events, both here and around the world. “Hardly two months have passed since the Charlie Hebdo attack, and you need more time to take a reasoned academic view of how Israeli caricatures have changed in the wake of that incident. In France and other places suddenly there was a very sharp rise in the number of caricatures with the figure of Muhammad, but that didn't happen here.” It wasn't as if the murderous attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices did not send shock waves here too. “There were all sorts of caricaturists who related to the dangers of their profession, and the threats aimed at them. There were people like [illustrator and comics artist] Guy Morad and [caricaturist and comics artist] Asaf Hanuka who drew themselves with weapons pointing at them while they worked. There were caricatures that referenced freedom of expression, but there weren't so many drawings of Muhammad. Maybe the boundaries here are more clearly defined, or people here are more used to this sort of thing, or just more aware of the risks involved. I think we need more time to assess how Charlie Hebdo impacted on political caricatures in general.” It must be said that caricaturists have a tough job. They have to create – often on a daily basis – just one image that has to express a multitude of feelings, thoughts and sensibilities. And therein lies the danger. With all the multilayered baggage that just one caricature is capable of conveying, the person that creates the said powerfully visual item must be keenly aware of the way in which practically every line may be construed or misconstrued. That sounds like a heavy responsibility to bear. “In one way, caricatures and PC [political correctness] are like water and oil,” says Gamzou. “They simply don't mix. In the '80s there was this awakening of heightened identity – people would say they are African American, or that they are Jewish American, that they are this and also that. There was an attempt to present identity complexities. The caricature can only convey complexities through the use of symbols. So caricaturists have been very cautious. They have to grapple with the question of when a symbol is a stereotype, or when it is a means of breaking a stereotype down into different parts.” Gamzou says that he did his utmost to present as wide a swathe as possible of caricatures from this part of the world, but that sometimes extraneous, non-artistic, considerations cast a spanner in the works. “I wanted to have haredi caricatures, but I was asked if the museum is open on Shabbat, so that ended that. And there were Palestinian artists whose works I wanted to include in Red Lines, but they refused for all sorts of reasons. I understand and respect that.” The original idea of running an exhibition of political caricatures that appear in the media in the run up to the election has not been totally abandoned, although the sequential element has been switched around. Red Lines will initially include a blank wall that will gradually be filled with caricatures published in the aftermath of the election. “In that sense it makes sense to come to the exhibition twice,” Gamzou says. “People can come a few days after the exhibition opens, when they will see the first post-election works, and then return, say, two or three weeks later, to see what else has been published, and how that reflects all the developments with the political parties and all that. I think it will be fascinating to follow up on that.” On March 31, veteran caricaturist and cartoon artist Joshua “Jacky” Jackson will be awarded the Golden Pencil Prize, the country's major lifetime achievement award for caricaturists, at a ceremony that will be attended by Holon Mayor Moti Sasson. Red Lines closes on June 13. For more information: (03) 652-1849 and www.cartoon.org.il/

Crossing red lines

Coinciding with the March 17 elections, Assaf Gamzou’s political caricature exhibition celebrates the art of satire and criticism.

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Crossing red lines

Coinciding with the March 17 elections, Assaf Gamzou’s political caricature exhibition celebrates the art of satire and criticism.

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