The inventor of
caricature as an independent art form was, according to
seventeenth century sources, the Bolognese history painter,
Annibale Carracci. (Wikipedia) The word caricature comes from
the Italian caricare " to load" and the caricaturist's aim is to
invest his image with as much meaning as possible, For
centuries, caricatures served the purpose of ridicule and
protest, and they are defined as a description that exaggerates
a character’s prominent features, distinctive characteristics or
the traits of somebody's personality.
The caricature
in Syria is a new art form which entered the Syrian world in the
twentieth century, when only a few artists worked in this field.
Today there are more artists and a wider public, but there are
many obstacles which hinder the caricature movement in this
country.
Recently, the
gallery at the "Tmr Henna Restaurant" showed caricatures by six
artists: Abd Al Hadi Shamma, Abdallah Basmaji, Ali Hamra, Hassen
Edlibi, Fares Karah Beit, and Nidal Khalil.On a visit to the
exhibition, we had the opportunity to meet Basmaji one of the
caricaturists taking part who was showing 26 works.
Abdullah
Basmaji is a professional artist who has been working in this
field for 23 years. He is a self – taught artist with good
drawing skills and a flair for expressing his ideas.
Basmaji's
inspiration always comes at night. He may be found drawing at
midnight, highlighting some important issue or tackling other
forbidden themes. His field is political satire rather than the
depiction of political persons or celebrities.
He tries to
illustrate several themes such as censorship, the minute role of
cultured people in society, corrupt officials and our wrong
concept of sexual culture among other themes, with comical
portraits for the purpose of ridicule.
Caricature can
also be made of inanimate objects such as cars and buildings,
but Basmaji's art is usually restricted to the illustration of
ordinary people with expressionistic facial features and
mimicking body gestures, using clear, attractive colours such as
yellow, purple and light blue.
Basmaji, why did you choose caricature as a
career?
Every human is
born with a desire to express his thoughts, and this expression
needs a medium which can range from painting to sculpture, from
poetry to song, and these expressionistic arts are the most
appropriate medium for expressing our inner world
How did your interest in caricature
emerge?
My interest in
this art goes back to the day when I saw my father reading a
newspaper and laughing. When I asked him why he was laughing, he
explained the meaning of a caricature to me. That is when I
became interested in this art form
Can you tell us a little
about your artistic development?
Many artists go through different
stages. I can’t look at or show the works that I drew one or two
years ago to anybody. Of course this is linked to my experience
and intellectual development. On the other hand, a lot of people
are incapable of such progress.
What distinguishes a
caricaturist?
Artists need to have certain qualities and skills. They need to
know how to paint and how to think, but the most important
quality is the sense of humour which comes out from inside an
artist such as Naji AL Ali. This artist won't laugh but he has a
strong sense of humour in relation to his work.
What is the greatest
obstacle faced by creative caricaturists?
I believe that creativity may be
born in the extremes of freedom and repression. Most artists
working in repressive countries use symbols to portray their
ideas in order to cheat the censorship, and this is in turn
gives rise to creativity, but there is still a positive side to
showing caricatures in exhibitions rather than publishing them
in a newspaper or magazine. At exhibitions censorship may be
looser and usually the works shown are more daring. This is
related to the fact that the number of people visiting
exhibitions is smaller than the number of people who read
newspapers. The number of copies of a newspaper indicate how
developed a country is and the best publisher in Syria might
sell 1500 copies.
Why do Syrian artists
back away from social issues?
Syrian artist are usually
concerned with political, economic and sporting issues rather
than social issues and there are many reasons for this. People
in Arab countries are born with a political burden due to the
many problems which exist. Their main concerns are politics,
freedom, and democracy. People in Europe live a luxurious life
and are able to tackle day to day issues. We, of course, cannot
tackle the three forbidden issues adequately: politics,
religion, and sex. Even if I want to talk about such social
issues we don't have specialized magazines to publish our works,
but that is another matter.
What would your wish list
be for caricature and caricaturists in Syria over the next few
years?
A little
free space would open up the doors of creativity.
Tell us something about
yourself
I am married with a son and a
daughter who shares my love of caricature
Abdallah Basmaji who was born in Aleppo in 1957 has worked for
several newspapers and magazines:
Al Thawra.. Syrian Newspaper
from1982 to 1988. Al Mawkef ..
Al Riadi,
Syrian Newspaper from 1986 to1988.
Al
Kifaharabi review..
Lebanon Newspaper
from 1990 to 1992. Al
Naquid review..
London Newspaper from 1990 to 1992. Al
WAHD
..
Emirates Newspaper from1992 to1994. Al
Kifaharabi
..
Lebanon Newspaper from1997 to 1999.
AN-Nouqad
.. Weekly
Lebanon Newspaper 2000. Al Watan..
Saudi Newspaper from 2000 until now.
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