Kenyan Political Cartoonist Exhibit and Talk on the Changing Global Landscape

May 5, 2014
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There is a new exhibit in the Memorial Library lobby and the circulation area entitled Africa & China: The Political Cartoons of Gado. The cartoonist Gado will be here in Madison to speak in the African Studies Program’s Africa at Noon series. This free and public event will be this Wednesday, May 7th, in room 206 Ingraham Hall at 12:00 p.m.

The exhibit features some of Gado’s acclaimed cartoons on China’s emerging relationship with Africa. Gado, a leading Kenyan cartoonist, explores the most momentous new direction in Africa’s international relations since independence.

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Gado (Godfrey Mwampembwa) is the most syndicated political cartoonist in East and Central Africa. Since 1992, he has been an editorial cartoonist and illustrator with the Nation Media Group. Gado is a regular contributor to newspapers around the world, including in the UK, France, South Africa, and Japan. He is also the author of four books.

In addition to cartooning, Gado is also Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Buni Media, a multimedia production company based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the Creator and Producer of The XYZ Show, Africa’s first puppet political satire, and an Executive Producer of Africanism 101, a series of in-depth documentaries on major socio-political issues that touch Kenya today.

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Gado is a 2007 Prince Claus Laureate. He is also a winner of Kenya National Human Rights Commission Award in Journalism in 2005 and 2007. In 1999 he was named Kenya Cartoonist of the Year. He has exhibited his works in Tanzania, Kenya, France, Norway, Finland and Italy. A painter in oil and watercolors, Gado is a member of Kenya Union of Journalists , the Association of East African cartoonists, Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate and a Board Member of Cartoonist Rights Network.

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This exhibit has been made possible by Tejumola Olaniyan, Emilie Songolo, Caitlin Tyler-Richards, and Matthew H. Brown. Support was provided by the African Studies Program, the Department of English, the African Diaspora and Atlantic World Research Circle, the Department of African Languages and Literature, the Mellon Comics Workshop, and the Center for Visual Cultures.