Zapiro
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Shapiro, born 1958 in Cape Town
, is a South Africa
n cartoonist, famous as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions. He is the nephew of British magician David Berglas
and cousin to Marvin Berglas, director of Marvin's Magic
.
but found it unsatisfying and moved to the art campus, Michaelis
. Shortly after this he was conscripted into the army for two years, where he refused to carry arms. In 1983 he became active in the newly-formed anti-Apartheid movement, the United Democratic Front
and as a result was arrested under the Illegal Gatherings Act and, subsequently, monitored by military intelligence. Zapiro was an important participant in South Africa's End Conscription Campaign
, designing its logo. After his military service he applied for and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study cartooning at the School of Visual Arts
in New York
for two years.
The name Zapiro was derived from the nickname of a fellow pupil at Rondebosch Boys' High School
, Martin Szapiro, whose friends called him Zap. After Martin's death in a mountaineering accident, Zapiro chose this name.
The first Zapiro character was a character named Preppy, whose main characteristic was his "kuif" (fringe), and who commented on issues that went on around school.
Zapiro started out as the Editorial Cartoonist for South newspaper in 1987, and after his stint in New York he was the editorial cartoonist for the Sowetan
from 1994 to 2005. His cartoons appeared in the Cape Argus
from 1996 to 1997. He has been the editorial cartoonist for the Mail & Guardian
since 1994, the Sunday Times since 1998 and since September 2005 he has appeared three times a week in the Cape Times
, the Star
, the Mercury
and the Pretoria News
.
Zapiro's work appears daily on the website of South African independent news publication, Mail & Guardian and weekly on the site of the Sunday Times.
Zapiro has published 16 annual cartoon collections:
In 2004 the University of Transkei
made him an Honorary Doctor of Literature.
In 2005 Shapiro won the Principal Prince Claus Award.
He has held solo cartoon exhibitions in New York, London and Frankfurt and many in South Africa. Has also exhibited in numerous group shows locally and internationally.
He has been an invited participant in cartoon events in Cameroon, Botswana, Australia, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Italy. In 2003 he was Africa's only representative amongst cartoonists invited to the World Economic Forum
in Davos, Switzerland, and he attended the forum again in 2004-2006.
In 2007, he received the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award at the annual Cartoonists Rights Network International dinner, capping the 50th Anniversary Convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
.
In 2008, in the South African Cartoonists Awards he won the Best Humorist Cartoon award.
Exhibition: Jiving with Madiba, 14 July to 27 November 2011, at the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town.
and US policies of "trade and not aid", and President George W. Bush
with a raised middle finger in a comment on American unilateralism and Bush's stance on the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
In 2006, former Deputy President of South Africa Jacob Zuma
furthered his claim of being "tried by the media" and has threatened to bring defamation action against various elements of the press for remarks that he alleges are defamatory. Approximately R15 million of the R63 million rand demanded by his legal representatives are in connection with Zapiro cartoons.
In 2008, Zapiro met with further animosity, this time from the South African ruling party, the African National Congress
(ANC) over a cartoon that appeared in the Sunday Times on the 7th of September, 2008. The cartoon depicts a scene where the ANC president's (Jacob Zuma
) staunchest supporters (ANC Youth League president Julius Malema
, secretary general of the ANC - Gwede Mantashe
, SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande
and Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi
) are holding down Lady Justice
, while Jacob Zuma is in a state of undress getting ready to "rape" Lady Justice. Mantashe, who is shown in the cartoon with a speech bubble containing "Go for it, boss", labelled the cartoon "racist", while ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte said the cartoon is "vile, crude and disgusting". Zapiro refuses to apologise for the cartoon. The African National Congress
, the South African Communist Party
and the ANC Youth League released the joint statement. as a formal response to The Sunday Times, while the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU) issued a separate press statement
On 21 May 2010 the Mail and Guardian published a strip from Zapiro depicting the prophet Muhammed. On 20 May 2010, the M&G had won an eleventh-hour court bid by the Council of Muslim Theologians to bar the publication of the cartoon. A week later, Zapiro released another cartoon in response to the various reactions to the original cartoon. In it he says that he will have to accept that exceptions will have to be made in regard to 'religious censorship'. This was seen by some as a statement that he felt that his freedom of speech would have to have been limited because of those that were insulted by his cartoon which had graphically depicted the prophet Mohamed.
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, is a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n cartoonist, famous as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions. He is the nephew of British magician David Berglas
David Berglas
David Berglas is a psychological illusionist and mentalist.-Early Life:Berglas escaped from Nazi Germany and fled to Britain at the age of 12. He later joined US Army in WWII, as an intelligence officer, after lying about his age...
and cousin to Marvin Berglas, director of Marvin's Magic
Marvin's Magic
Marvin's Magic is a producer and dealer of magic products in the United Kingdom.It was founded in 1987 by Marvin Berglas, son of David Berglas, and is the world's largest magic company....
.
Early life
Born in Cape Town to Gershon and Gaby Shapiro, Zapiro studied architecture at the University of Cape TownUniversity of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
but found it unsatisfying and moved to the art campus, Michaelis
Michaelis School of Fine Art
Michaelis School of Fine Art was founded in 1925, and is the Fine Arts department of the University of Cape Town, also housing the Michaelis Collection named for Sir Max Michaelis who in 1920 endowed the chair of Fine Art at the University. It is located at 31-37 Orange Street in Cape Town on...
. Shortly after this he was conscripted into the army for two years, where he refused to carry arms. In 1983 he became active in the newly-formed anti-Apartheid movement, the United Democratic Front
United Democratic Front (South Africa)
The United Democratic Front was one of the most important anti-apartheid organisations of the 1980s. The non-racial coalition of about 400 civic, church, students', workers' and other organisations was formed in 1983, initially to fight the just-introduced idea of the Tricameral Parliament The...
and as a result was arrested under the Illegal Gatherings Act and, subsequently, monitored by military intelligence. Zapiro was an important participant in South Africa's End Conscription Campaign
End Conscription Campaign
The End Conscription Campaign was an anti-apartheid organisation allied to the United Democratic Front and composed of conscientious objectors and their supporters in South Africa...
, designing its logo. After his military service he applied for and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study cartooning at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
for two years.
The name Zapiro was derived from the nickname of a fellow pupil at Rondebosch Boys' High School
Rondebosch Boys' High School
Rondebosch Boys' High School is a state secondary school in Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded in 1897 and is known by the acronym "RBHS".-Academics:...
, Martin Szapiro, whose friends called him Zap. After Martin's death in a mountaineering accident, Zapiro chose this name.
The first Zapiro character was a character named Preppy, whose main characteristic was his "kuif" (fringe), and who commented on issues that went on around school.
Work
Jonathan started out as the editorial cartoonist of South in 1987. In 1988 Jonathan was detained shortly before leaving on a Fulbright Scholarship to study media arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York. There he studied under the comics masters Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman.Zapiro started out as the Editorial Cartoonist for South newspaper in 1987, and after his stint in New York he was the editorial cartoonist for the Sowetan
The Sowetan
The Sowetan is an English language, South African newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the black township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province....
from 1994 to 2005. His cartoons appeared in the Cape Argus
Cape Argus
Founded in 1857 by Saul Solomon, the Cape Argus is a daily newspaper published by Independent News & Media in Cape Town, South Africa. It is commonly referred to simply as "The Argus"....
from 1996 to 1997. He has been the editorial cartoonist for the Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
The Mail & Guardian is a South African weekly newspaper, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a strong focus on politics, government, the environment, civil society and business.- The Mail & Guardian newspaper :...
since 1994, the Sunday Times since 1998 and since September 2005 he has appeared three times a week in the Cape Times
Cape Times
The Cape Times is an English language morning newspaper owned by Independent News & Media and published in Cape Town, South Africa. The first edition of the newspaper was published on 27 March 1876 by then editor Frederick York St Leger...
, the Star
The Star (South Africa)
The Star is a daily newspaper based in Gauteng, South Africa. It has a readership of 840 000 and is owned by Independent News & Media. It gained worldwide attention in 2006 when it published survey results according to which about twenty percent of South African men have raped a woman in...
, the Mercury
The Mercury (South Africa)
The Mercury is an upmarket English language newspaper owned by Independent News & Media and published in Durban, South Africa.As the most popular English morning newspaper in the region, The Mercury has 269 000 readers .-Content:...
and the Pretoria News
Pretoria News
Pretoria News is a daily newspaper based in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa....
.
Zapiro's work appears daily on the website of South African independent news publication, Mail & Guardian and weekly on the site of the Sunday Times.
Zapiro has published 16 annual cartoon collections:
- The Madiba Years (1996)
- The Hole Truth (1997)
- End of Part One (1998)
- Call Mr Delivery (1999)
- The Devil Made Me Do It! (2000)
- The ANC Went in 4x4 (2001)
- Bushwhacked (2002)
- Dr Do-Little and the African Potato (2003)
- Long Walk to Free Time (2004)
- Is There a Spin Doctor in the House? (2005)
- Da Zuma Code (2006)
- Take Two Veg and Call Me in the Morning (2007)
- Pirates of Polokwane (2008)
- The Mandela Files (2008)
- Don't Mess with the President's Head (2009)
- Do You Know Who I Am?! (2010)
Awards and exhibitions
In 2001 he became the first cartoonist to win a category prize in the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards. In 2003 and 2004 he won the Mondi Newspaper Award for Graphic Journalism.In 2004 the University of Transkei
University of Transkei
University of Transkei was situated in the former Transkei region of South Africa...
made him an Honorary Doctor of Literature.
In 2005 Shapiro won the Principal Prince Claus Award.
He has held solo cartoon exhibitions in New York, London and Frankfurt and many in South Africa. Has also exhibited in numerous group shows locally and internationally.
He has been an invited participant in cartoon events in Cameroon, Botswana, Australia, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Italy. In 2003 he was Africa's only representative amongst cartoonists invited to the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
in Davos, Switzerland, and he attended the forum again in 2004-2006.
In 2007, he received the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award at the annual Cartoonists Rights Network International dinner, capping the 50th Anniversary Convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists is a professional association concerned with promoting the interests of staff, freelance and student editorial cartoonists in the United States, Canada and Mexico...
.
In 2008, in the South African Cartoonists Awards he won the Best Humorist Cartoon award.
Exhibition: Jiving with Madiba, 14 July to 27 November 2011, at the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town.
Criticism
In 2003, Zapiro made headlines when members of the Faith and Politics Institute, an American organisation, lodged complaints against three of the cartoons at an exhibition for visiting American congressional representatives as well as members of the institute. The cartoons in question depicted former American president Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and US policies of "trade and not aid", and President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
with a raised middle finger in a comment on American unilateralism and Bush's stance on the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
In 2006, former Deputy President of South Africa Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
furthered his claim of being "tried by the media" and has threatened to bring defamation action against various elements of the press for remarks that he alleges are defamatory. Approximately R15 million of the R63 million rand demanded by his legal representatives are in connection with Zapiro cartoons.
In 2008, Zapiro met with further animosity, this time from the South African ruling party, the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
(ANC) over a cartoon that appeared in the Sunday Times on the 7th of September, 2008. The cartoon depicts a scene where the ANC president's (Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
) staunchest supporters (ANC Youth League president Julius Malema
Julius Malema
Julius Sello Malema is a South African politician, and the former president of the African National Congress Youth League. Malema occupies a notably controversial position in South African public and political life; having risen to prominence with his support for African National Congress...
, secretary general of the ANC - Gwede Mantashe
Gwede Mantashe
Gwede Mantashe is a South African politician, holding posts of ANC secretary general and chairperson of the South African Communist Party.- Posts :...
, SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande
Blade Nzimande
Dr Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande is a South African politician who has been Minister for Higher Education and Training since 2009.He has been the General Secretary of the South African Communist Party since 1998...
and Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi
Zwelinzima Vavi
Zwelinzima Vavi is General Secretary of Congress of South African Trade Unions , and Vice-Chairperson of the Millennium Labour Council.-Early life:...
) are holding down Lady Justice
Lady Justice
Lady Justice |Dike]]) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems.-Depiction:The personification of justice balancing the scales of truth and fairness dates back to the Goddess Maat, and later Isis, of ancient Egypt. The Hellenic deities Themis and Dike were later...
, while Jacob Zuma is in a state of undress getting ready to "rape" Lady Justice. Mantashe, who is shown in the cartoon with a speech bubble containing "Go for it, boss", labelled the cartoon "racist", while ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte said the cartoon is "vile, crude and disgusting". Zapiro refuses to apologise for the cartoon. The African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
, the South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
and the ANC Youth League released the joint statement. as a formal response to The Sunday Times, while the Congress of South African Trade Unions
Congress of South African Trade Unions
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the biggest of the country’s three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions, altogether organising 1.8 million workers.-Establishment:COSATU was established in...
(COSATU) issued a separate press statement
On 21 May 2010 the Mail and Guardian published a strip from Zapiro depicting the prophet Muhammed. On 20 May 2010, the M&G had won an eleventh-hour court bid by the Council of Muslim Theologians to bar the publication of the cartoon. A week later, Zapiro released another cartoon in response to the various reactions to the original cartoon. In it he says that he will have to accept that exceptions will have to be made in regard to 'religious censorship'. This was seen by some as a statement that he felt that his freedom of speech would have to have been limited because of those that were insulted by his cartoon which had graphically depicted the prophet Mohamed.
External links
- Zapiro's official website
- M&G Zapiro Archive
- Zapiro on the Sunday Times website.
- Unofficial Zapiro meta-archive
- Zapiro profile and cartoons at Africartoons.com
- Zapiro profile at Cartoonist.co.za
- Zapiro Unofficially
- IOL report
- Zapiro cartoon leaves ANC fuming
- Zapiro - The Mandela files
- Interview with Zapiro