Examining media through eyes of cartoonists

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

The exhibition at Istanbul’s Press Museum displays cartoon sby 66 cartoonists.

The Aydın Doğan International Cartoon Competition’s exhibition, titled “World Cartoonists’ Look at Media,” opened recently at the Press Museum in Istanbul within the scope of the fifth Babıali Days. Displaying cartoons by 66 cartoonists, the opening of the exhibition hosted many guests as well as a concert by the Istanbul Municipality Orchestra.

Aydın Doğan Foundation Executive Board Director Candan Fetvacı said the foundation partnered with Babıali Days every year to host cartoon exhibitions and the Aydın Doğan International Cartoon Competition. “We have chosen a unique topic this year: The look of cartoonists at media. This time the media criticizes itself. This is a very good collection because it dates back to the 1980s. There is a selection here spanning 30 years. We can see how the media’s look at itself has changed in 30 years. We also see that some things have never changed,” Fetvacı said.

The power of media

The exhibition illustrates the power of the media, Fetvacı said. “We have cartoons particularly about the Internet that have been drawn in recent years. They show the position of the Internet in the media. You can see what happens in the world in these cartoons. There are also works that place in the competition. In our archive, we have 70,000 cartoons from 7,000 cartoonists. We did not open a real cartoon museum but we have a virtual one. People can search them on our website,” Fetvacı said.
The Turkish Journalists Association organized the events for the fifth Babıali Days this year. Babıali has a history of 181 years, according to Turkish Journalists Association Chairman Orhan Erinç. “Babıali is the capital of Turkish press history. We organized such an event in order to bring together press organs and readers, and strengthen the relation among journalists. We also have various events and one of them is this cartoon exhibition,” Erinç said.

The exhibition at the Press Museum in the Çemberlitaş neighborhood will continue through Oct. 11.