SIX female cartoonists from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia band together in an upcoming forum to highlight the socio-political state of the region, the players that help shape it, and the challenges and motivations behind the pursuit of their work.
Among the line-up of speakers are cartoonists Shazeera, Sarah Joan, Faizati, Sarah Amalina, Erdy (Thailand) and Grace Tjondronimpuno (Indonesia).
The second edition of the online web event called ‘Female Cartoonists: Dare to Punch!’ is done in support of the Asean Human Rights Cartoon Exhibition. It will take place this Saturday, May 22 at 2pm local time.
In the last forum, the main talking points centred on how cartoonists and the state can collaborate in nation-building.
Each of the participating cartoonists in this next forum has had their cartoons submitted and displayed for the galleries featured. Get acquainted with the speakers and their work briefly before the upcoming event...
Sarah Amalina Ab Wahid is an accountant fom Kuala Lumpur. Despite her career path, she has always been in love with art. While living in London, she took part in an art competition called Artistic Jihad where she submitted her doodles on life as a Muslim abroad.
Although it did not end in victory, it opened her mind to an array of art she was never exposed to before. Sarah only started sharing her art via social media upon returning home from London in 2017. Her work has since focused on her surroundings.
An illustrator based in Bangkok, Erdy took her first step as an artist with watercolour before changing to digital, vector and acrylic painting. Her style has become more graphic and gender-neutral, with deeper stories and symbols.
Indonesian cartoonists Grace Tjondronimpuno was born in Magelang, Central Java. She has published a book entitled ‘Celebration Book of Painting’ for the 13th World Peace Art Exhibition in Seoul, Korea. Grace has also held many exhibitions abroad namely in China and Lebanon.
Sarah Joan Mokhtar is a Malaysian writer, cartoonist and illustrator who created the comic strip 'Awek Aspuri' (1998 - 2001), 'Elysium Saga' (2002) and 'Rojak' (2006). Her debut as a cartoonist was at age 15 in 1998 with the publishing of her series 'Awek Aspuri' in Ujang magazine.
She is one of the founding members of Unnamed Asia, a Southeast Asian online artist collective and knowledge-sharing platform that provides career support and networking opportunities for Southeast Asian comic creators.
Faizati Mohd Ali is a lawyer by profession and draws cartoons in her free time. She mainly draws to express herself and as a response to issues in society that she feels strongly about. This includes social injustice, discrimination, and inequality. She is collaborating with UNFPA for a series of comics dealing with various issues on women and children.
Shazeera is a freelance Malaysian comic artist based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2019, she was part of Malaysia’s 'Cartoonist Against Torture' coalition launched by the National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).
Her comics were featured as the cover for the Swiss Foreign Department of Foreign Affairs Action Plan Against Torture. Her work has been translated into French, Spanish, Ukrainian and Turkish. – The Vibes, May 21, 2021
*Watch the forum and join the women cartoonists in the discussion on Facebook Live at http://www.facebook.com/Craftora this May 22, 2pm (local time).
