ISSUE 56
I L L U S T R AT I O N S
24 · MONE Y
Giselle is a freelance writer, proofreader and social media marketer who lives on Instagram and cappuccino. She runs Content for Success.
Steve Bonello Preferred medium: Ink/digital (newspaper work almost exclusively digital) Drawing since: 1980s, political cartooning since 1991
IN THE LINE of FIRE Giselle Borg Olivier speaks to renowned local cartoonists Steve Bonello and Ġorġ Mallia about their thoughts and role within this animated setting.
The genre of the political cartoon dwells in satire, humour, and art – an often-singular image that conveys a powerful message usually without the need for words, and therefore able to be understood by many regardless of language barriers. The message of this art is often hard-hitting as cartoonists tackle socio-political issues occurring in the country, or world, at the time. Internationally, one would remember the uproar caused by the ‘Mohammed cartoons’ commission by Danish daily newspaper
Jyllands-Posten in 2005. The cartoons sparked protests and riots worldwide with many Middle Eastern states boycotting Danish products. Sadly, this was followed by another uproar 10 years later, also involving the prophet Mohammed, which resulted in the fatal shooting of 12 members of staff at the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. Historically there have been many striking cartoons that have angered, shocked, and
Photo by Mikela Zerafa
Ġorġ Mallia (signing Ġorġ) Preferred medium: Pen and ink drawing, scanned and coloured/finished on Photoshop using a Cintiq tablet Drawing since: 1977
