Zapiro
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Zapiro is the nom de plume of South African political cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions.
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[edit] Early life
Born in 1958 to Gershon and Gaby Shapiro, he studied architecture at the University of Cape Town but found it unsatisfying and moved on to the art campus, Michaelis. Shortly after this he was conscripted into the army for two years. After his military service he applied for and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study cartooning in New York for two years.
The name Zapiro was derived from the nickname of a fellow pupil at Rondebosch Boys' High School, Martin Shapiro, 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.
[edit] Zapiro's work
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 twelve 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)
[edit] 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 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 and 2005.
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.
[edit] Complaints about the cartoon
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 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 Clinton and US policies of "trade and not aid", President George W. Bush with a raised middle finger in a comment on American unilateralism, and the third featured a stance on the World Summit on Sustainable Development.[1]
