Cartooning for Social Change

Patrick Chappatte draws for the Swiss newspapers Le Temps in Geneva and Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He also works for Le Canard Enchaîné in France, Der Spiegel magazine in Germany and the Boston Globe in the United States. For almost 20 years he was the regular cartoonist for the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times, until the later newspaper decided to stop publishing political cartoons in 2019. Chappatte is also a pioneer of cartoon reportage, with more than thirty published reports, from Nairobi' slums to Guatemala's gangs, as well as American death rows. For the past fifteen years, with the help of the Swiss Foreign Office, he has been organizing "Plumes croisées" projects all around the world, to encourage a dialogue on Human Rights through drawings. Chappatte chairs the freedom Cartoonists foundation in Geneva (formerly the Swiss Cartooning for Peace Foundation) which, together with the City of Geneva, awards the biennial International Editorial Cartoon Award. Kofi Annan used to be the Foundation's honorary president. After spending time in New York and Los Angeles, he currently lives and works in Geneva. Website:www.chappatte.com

Ita Mehrotra is a visual artist, researcher and educator. Her non-fiction comics and illustrated text have been published and exhibited by Zubaan Books, Goethe Institute, Fumetto Festival, thewire.in and KHOJ, among others. Ita’s recent book ‘Shaheen Bagh, A Graphic Recollection’ (Yoda press, 2021) voices moments and memories from the vast anti CAA uprising across India over the winter of 2019. Ita has worked with various grassroots organisations and community schools across India and is currently Director of Artreach India, a not for profit that works at the intersections of art, inclusive education and community development.

Aarthi Parthasarathy is a filmmaker and writer, and has written a number of comics and short graphic stories. She founded Falana Films, a Bangalore-based creative film and animation studio. She created the webcomic Royal Existentials and is also part of Kadak Collective, a group of South Asian women graphic artists and writers. She is one of the editors of the Bystander Anthology, an independent comics anthology released in 2021 by 50+ South Asian comic artists, writers and illustrators.

Sharad Sharma, a Delhi-based cartoonist, conceptualised the idea of Grassroots Comics in the early nineties, which is now a global movement. In his leadership, World Comics India trained over 100,000 common people in grassroots comics methodology across the globe. This methodology is now being widely used as a tool for communication and comics journalism. This simple yet powerful tool has encouraged not just media students and NGOs activists but also the common people including the homeless, street vendors, refugees and sexual minorities to document their part of story. www.worldcomicsindia.com

Varud Gupta was bred for the business world until an existential crises sent him travelling through the culinary cultures of the world. It was in documenting odd jobs as a cheesemonger or asador that his journey as a writer began. His first book, Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan, was a travel narrative through the faiths and foods of India. And the story of Chhotu, represents the culmination of the first chapter on this existential path.