The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
Millions Stand Behind Me! poster, John
Heartfield, 1932
(Private Collection,German/Bridgeman
Art Library)
Taking a swipe at dodgy government
policies is nothing more than farting in the wind, right? Wrong.
Throughout history, the state has been shaken – and stirred –
to silence creative criticism. Artists have been bribed, imprisoned,
even killed because of their work. Like political journalism,
political art can be dangerous. And if it’s dangerous, it must
be working! Nowadays, the internet and the ease of manipulating
and disseminating images have made many more things possible.
The German artist, John Heartfield (1891-1968), used photomontages
to mock and criticize Hitler. He was subsequently included on
the Fuhrer’s hit list of dissidents but fortunately escaped assassination.
Naji Salim al-Ali was not so lucky. On 23 July 1987, the headlines
ran, ‘Cartoonist shot in London Street’. Al-Ali's cartoons were
especially critical of the Ayatollah Khomeini. A month earlier,
he had published a drawing satirising Yasser Arafat of the Palestine
Liberation Organisation. A week before the shooting, al-Ali had
predicted his own death.
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