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Davos 2019: Has The World Become A Tougher Place For Cartoonists? Here’s Patrick Chappatte’s Take

Cartoonist Patrick Chappatte talks to BloombergQuint on the importance of freedom of expression through humour.  

Cartooning For Peace, a foundation formed by Patrick Chapatte, displays  works by cartoonists at Davos. Image courtesy: (www.chappatte.com). 
Cartooning For Peace, a foundation formed by Patrick Chapatte, displays works by cartoonists at Davos. Image courtesy: (www.chappatte.com). 

The world has become a tougher place for cartoonists, according to Patrick Chappatte, the editorial cartoonist at The New York Times. This, he said, is because cartoonists have been at the centre of attention, as seen in the Charlie Hebdo killings and the Danish cartoon controversy.

Right now, it’s more important than ever, to defend our fundamental freedom for humour. We need humour as much as we need the air to stay alive.

“It’s no easy task, given that a lot of governments around the world are dismissive of the media,” he said, adding that there’s a rising fervour among nation states.

It’s a crazy world right now, and you can see that reflected in the World Economic Forum. The elite are lost by what’s going on. All the turmoil, nationalism.
Patrick Chappatte, cartoonist 

Chappatte, whose works are on display at the WEF, finds himself in a peculiar position since he studies people in power very closely, and this places him in a better position to create satire. Some of his works are about panel discussions on poverty and hunger, and fighting climate change with the rich and elite coming in their private jets.

 Image courtesy: www.chappatte.com 
Image courtesy: www.chappatte.com 

He talked about how we have to find a way to have patience with each other. “If not tolerance, I want to argue for indifference.”

 Image courtesy:  <a href="https://twitter.com/PatChappatte">@<b>PatChappatte</b></a>
Image courtesy: @PatChappatte
If something hurts you, just let it go. Let people express themselves, and have some space for dialogue. It’s going to be a tough time ahead, and more than ever, we’ll need to find ways to communicate, and laugh, maybe.