Note to Correspondents

‘CARTOONING FOR PEACE’ EXHIBIT OPENS AT HEADQUARTERS ON 16 OCTOBER

An exhibition of cartoons by 18 well-known cartoonists from around the world will open in the South Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby on Monday, 16 October at 6:15 p.m.  The exhibit, entitled “Cartooning for Peace”, is presented in conjunction with the fifth “Unlearning Intolerance” seminar on the same theme.

The anger and divisiveness engendered by the publications of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad earlier in 2006 suggest both a sense of the power and the necessity of responsibility in the art of cartooning.  This exhibit highlights how the medium of cartoons can promote peace.

The inspiration for this project came from an original concept generated by the world-renowned French cartoonist Plantu, whose work has appeared for decades in Le Monde in Paris, one of the leading newspapers in France.

The exhibit was developed and organized by Plantu, the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (Brussels) and Saint-Just le Martel Association (St-Just, France), in coordination with the Outreach Division of the Department of Public Information and with the support of the Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.  The exhibit was also made possible by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

To view the exhibit online, visit www.cartooningforpeace.org.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, call Jan Arnesen, 212 963 8531; or Liza Wichmann, 212 963 0089, or visit the website at www.un.org/events/UNART.

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For information media • not an official record