Zapiro ‘honoured’ to receive France’s top award
Hayden Horner
They are artists, political commentators and comedians all in one, and their work either riles you or encourages a giggle but never fails to bring the message home.
These are the men and women around the world who are not afraid of taking leaders to task by looking for the shape of truth, liberty and of justice with a stroke of their pens – even if it means getting murdered like the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists during the January 2015 attacks.
From The Citizen’s Themba Siwela to The Star’s Bethuel Mangena or Anton Kannemeyer and Jeremy Nell, South Africa has its fair share of editorial cartoonists.
And now, one of them has been bestowed the Chevalier des Arts et des Letters – one of France’s top awards. At a ceremony in his hometown of Cape Town on Wednesday, Jonathan “Zapiro” Shapiro received the medal and the title of Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters, which recognises an individual’s contribution to the influence of arts in France and throughout the world.
Presenting the prestigious award to Shapiro, French Ambassador Aurélien Lechevallier likened the work of Shapiro and his fellow satirists to playing with fire.
“One mistake and a bonfire is lit. One step across the border and the dragon of censorship is awake. One step back, you burn the idea,” said Lechevallier.
“Three steps away from the politically correct and you may unleash the fury of the government and the faithful servants of the moral laws.”
Speaking to Cape Talk’s Pippa Hudson, Shapiro said he was very honoured to receive the award.
When asked by Hudson what it was that makes him venture outside the boundaries most people stay within, Shapiro said: “… It’s about thinking about society and what you can do.”
During his acceptance speech, the artist who has won numerous awards, said: “All of us are cartoonists at heart, born with the impulse to create and to comment.”
With 20 annual best sellers as well as an honorary Alan Paton
Award and two honorary doctorates, the cartoonist is now among the likes of Johnny Clegg, William Kentridge, Gregory Maqoma and Zanele Muholi – who also received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres award.
The Knight award acknowledges the fight that Shapiro continues to fight for freedom of expression, equality and dignity – using nothing more than a pen to sum up a complex situation in a single and powerful image.
“Today, we honour the activist, the freedom fighter, and also the messenger, the passer on, the one who shows the way and carries the values of the struggle to pass them through generations, without rest, and without borders,” said Ambassador Lechevallier.