The widow of cartoonist Georges Wolinski and six press cartoonists, including survivors of the Charlie Hebdo attack, called on President Emmanuel Macron to implement the creation of the European House of Press Cartoon for which if he is was engaged.
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In a column published on September 5 in the
Journal du Dimanche
, the signatories recall the wish formulated in 2020 by the Head of State "
to create in France the House of press cartoon and satirical drawing, an idea launched by Georges Wolinski at early 2000s
”, and“
to defend this art of critical thinking
”.
The text is signed by Maryse Wolinski, Coco, survivor of the January 2015 attack perpetrated by the two Kouachi brothers, Riss, current director of Charlie Hebdo and also survivor, Juin, who joined the publication after the attack, Kak, draftsman at the Opinion, Xavier Gorce, ex-draftsman in the newspaper Le Monde, and Patrick Chapatte, ex-draftsman at the New York Times (who no longer publishes press cartoons). "
The creation of such a place is all the more justified as the satirical press belongs to our history (...) and has developed up to the present day as a counter-power
", underline the signatories.
After the beheading of the history professor Samuel Paty in October 2020, who had shown one of the caricatures of Muhammad to his students, Emmanuel Macron had "
consistently defended the right to caricature, this form of expression that fundamentalists do not support and which deserves to be protected, valued, defended
”, remind the signatories. This European House of Press Cartoon would have the mission of "
defending this language, disseminating it, making it accessible to all (...), supporting cartoonists, not leaving teachers and associations alone
".
The signatories indicate that two prefiguration missions had been launched by the Ministry of Culture to study the possibilities of creating this house. The Île-de-France region is "
very determined to financially support
" this project and the City of Paris is "
ready to welcome it
". "
All that's missing is your commitment, that of the State, which would be nothing other than respect for the word given
", concludes the text.