Drawing the Lines: Editorial cartoons show that the more things change...

Editorial cartoons show that the more things change...

TIME MOVES in circles. For proof of this, go visit the exhibit called Drawing the Lines, on view at the Lopez Museum and Library in Ortigas until July 8, and see how things change -- and don’t -- through a series of drawings.

  

  PHOTO

1

2

UNTITLED by Liborio Gatbonton, cartoon. The Manila Chronicle, Feb. 7, 1867 -- LOPEZ MUSEUM

RELATED STORIES Aquino can campaign for LP bets, says election lawyer Suspect in Ortega slay convicted Orozco named CAAP deputy director general Japan ruling party to debate on expanding foreign labor force Ex-CJ Panganiban faces second contempt motion

Drawing the Lines features editorial cartoons made by Filipino artists Danilo Dalena, Neil Doloricon, E.Z. Izon, Dengcoy Miel, Dante Perez, Jose Tence Ruiz, and Pinggot Zulueta whose work was seen in local newspapers and magazines. Not mentioned, however, among the lineup of exhibitors is Manila Chronicle’s renowned cartoonist Liborio Gatbonton, who started his career in the 1940s.

“The exhibit gives a critical view of our history. Why does it seem to be repeating?” said Thea Garing, visual arts and public programs coordinator of the Lopez Museum and Library.

Even a cursory look at the drawings shows their continued relevance: one by the Manila Chronicle’s Gatbonton shows Manila traffic as a tangle of string -- back in 1967.

The cartoons -- some contained in a special casing because they are brittle and need special care -- from the 1950s until 2000s, may cover over six decades but their themes are still relevant today. The subjects are obviously recurring: hunger, social inequity, American soldiers in the Philippines, the plights of overseas Filipino workers, and oil prices, among others.

Drawing the Lines draws the line between today and yesterday, re-examining the past while giving context to the present. After all, editorial and political cartoonists are illustrators of life, thanks to their artworks that mixed representation, opinion, and personal style.

The exhibit, which is divided into six themes, also aims to show that editorial cartoons are legitimate artworks like paintings, said Ms. Garing.

The first gallery displays the artists’ drafts, to illustrate the struggles and difficulties the artists faced in creating cartoons that would speak to their audience. 

In an adjacent room, the process in which the drafts made it to the newspaper is shown, back when technology like Photoshop and modern layout methods were not available. The audience learns about such things as “copy-paste” -- words and images back then were cut out one by one and pasted on a dummy.

Another room, focuses on the cartoons’ themes like Filipino identity, heroism, and the justice system. The drawings go back from the time of former Presidents Manuel Roxas until Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

There’s also a special room that is a mock-up of the old newsroom of the Manila Chronicle. It features preserved newspaper clippings, photographs of journalists, and a display of an ancient typewriter.

That the newsroom is included in the exhibit should come as no surprise: Eugenio Lopez, Sr., after whom the museum is named, owned the Manila Chronicle before the paper -- which was founded in 1945 -- was closed by Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 when he locked the country down under Martial Law.

The audience can start anywhere and will still end up with one realization: History does repeat itself. The question is how closely.

For more information about the exhibit and the services of the Lopez Museum and Library, call (02) 631-2417 or e-mail lmmpasig@gmail.com.