- Title: Turkish cartoons on display in German caricature exhibition
- Date: 21st July 2017
- Summary: KASSEL, GERMANY (JULY 21, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF "CARICATURA" GALLERY IN KASSEL SIGN READING "CARICATURA" VISITORS AT "SCHLUSS MIT LUSTIG" (THE PARTY IS OVER) EXHIBITION VARIOUS OF CARICATURE OF TURKISH PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN VISITORS VARIOUS OF ERDOGAN PICTURED AS ADOLF HITLER WITH MOUSTACHE DRAWN AS IF IT WAS A CONSTITUTION VISITORS VARIOUS OF CARICATURE SHOWING GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL SITTING ON THRONE NEXT TO ERDOGAN VARIOUS OF EXHIBITION AND VISITORS VARIOUS OF CURATOR SABINE KUEPER-BUESCH AT EXHIBITION CARICATURE (SOUNDBITE) (German) EXHIBITION CURATOR, SABINE KUEPER-BUESCH, SAYING: "A ten-year friendship links us to Caricatura, which is fundamentally a solidarity exhibition. The Caricatura exhibition as a whole is called "Systemfehler" (System error) and we chose the title "Schluss mit lustig" (The party is over) for the Turkish guest exhibition, which on the one hand is a reference to political repression in Turkey but on the other hand represents the attitude of the cartoonists who underline: 'the party is also over for us but we keep on drawing anyway.'" CLOSE UP OF CARICATURE (SOUNDBITE) (German) EXHIBITION CURATOR, SABINE KUEPER-BUESCH, SAYING: "So, the Turkish caricatures are the only area in the entire media landscape in which reality is reflected in a relatively progressive way. You have to remember 80 percent of the Turkish media are now in the hands of government-influenced businesses and 18 percent have been either intimidated or banned, so there are only two percent of working cartoonists who are defiant and can say, 'I am so creative and intelligent that censorship can't reach me so quickly." VISITOR (SOUNDBITE) (German) EXHIBITION CURATOR, SABINE KUEPER-BUESCH, SAYING: "So, in the caricatures you see in a very sensitive way what you cannot say in the mainstream media, like matters concerning the Kurdish controversy, but also gender roles or the handling of the Gezi protests, which were a total provocation for the Islamic-conservative movement behind Erdogan, but which live on as a utopia through satire." VARIOUS OF EXHIBITION AND VISITORS
- Embargoed: 4th August 2017 19:48
- Keywords: Germany Turkey caricatures tension satire cartoons
- Location: KASSEL, GERMANY
- City: KASSEL, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA0016QNSMKN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A small art gallery in the German town of Kassel has opened a special exhibition of Turkish cartoons named "Schluss mit lustig", a German saying which means "The party is over".
The exhibition includes caricatures taking aim at Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan by portraying him as a dictator.
Curator Sabine Kueper-Buesch told Reuters the exhibition sets out to expose political repression and the courage of cartoonists defying the government.
Rights groups and some Western allies say Turkey is using a crackdown triggered by last year's failed coup attempt to quash all dissent.
Opposition media outlets have been closed and around 160 journalists detained. Turkey is now the world's biggest jailer of journalists, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
The government - which recently extended the state of emergency brought in after the failed putsch for another three months - says such measures are necessary because of the gravity of the security threat. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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