Yesterday, June 20, 2011, Curls Studio attended the event, Daring to Draw: An Evening with Political Cartoonists from Around the World at The National Press Club in Washington, DC.
The US Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program is currently hosting a group of 20 political cartoonists from North Africa, the Middle East, and South and Central Asia. During their three weeks in the America, they will meet with fellow cartoonists around the country and get a taste of American culture.
Washington, DC was their first stop and we (Carolyn Belefski, Joe Carabeo) were on hand with fellow DC creators and comics enthusiasts (Rafer Roberts, Jacob Warrenfeltz, Donna Lewis, Matt Dembicki, Mike Rhode) to greet them. Rafer brought copies of Magic Bullet to share with them.
Some of the cartoonists we chatted with came from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. They were very excited for this opportunity and very interested in cartooning and meeting us. Their work was played in rotation on a monitor and it was very powerful commentary on their side of the world and global issues in general.
Many of these cartoonists put their life in the line for freedom of speech. It humbled me to know halfway around the world there are cartoonists visually paving the road for freedom.
I have never been to a gathering of so many international cartoonists before and I'm still interested in learning more about other cultures. Maybe there is an exchange program? Or can we go on a USO tour to represent America and Curls Studio? I'd love to do on a USO tour one day.
More photos from this event can be seen on the Curls Studio Facebook Page.
Here is a link to Joe's Tumblr about this event experience: http://goastray.tumblr.com/post/6775818019/curls-studio-and-other-great-dc-cartoonist-greet
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