by Osman Ali Obeid
Cartoons Memory – The Age of Kaizan

Caricatures can be a satirical, exaggerated and critical form of expression of social and political opinions. They can bring discourses to the public in a humorous way. Osman Ali Obeid takes up the social significance of cartoons in Sudan and gathers them in his collector’s book.

In 2019, images of the revolution in Sudan went around the world and shaped the image of a country that has since been marked by upheavals. Social media played a central role in this; they enabled rapid and extensive dissemination of information that was not only communicated in written form. In a country that was subject to censorship during the reign of former President Omar al-Bashir, cartoonists also used social networks to publish their work.
 
The caricaturist Osman Ali Obeid uses critical drawings from between 2010 and 2019 to tell a story of the political past in Sudan with his book Cartoons Memory – The Age of Kaizan. A collection of caricatures that treat the old regime satirically will show the role played by these political drawings in and during situations of upheaval. “The work documents a stage in our political, social and economic history in a different artistic way and is thus a supplement to the usual Sudanese books,” the author explains the background to the book.
 
It was particularly important to him to protect the intellectual property of caricaturists who had not previously published or labelled their work. In his anthology, the people behind the cartoons are visible and recognised. This meets with enthusiasm in his audience, who celebrated his work with great response after its printing and publication.