26. 02. 2014

EXHIBITION CANCELLED OVER POLITICAL CARTOON

Belgrade, 26.02.2014 (Fonet, Politika, RTV) - Cartoon exhibition "Few Roads to Elections" by Jovan Prokopljevic, which was to be opened tonight at the Air Force Home in Zemun, was canceled, and the author was told by the gallery "Ikar" that the exhibition will not be held, and in a brief telephone conversation that the reason was "political cartoons," Politika reports.

Prokopljevic is a longtime cartoonist for daily Politika, with many international awards. For the exhibition consisting of sixty cartoons he has even printed invitations.

It is assumed that the reason for the postponement is a drawing on the official invitation featuring Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and the First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

This is corroborated by the fact that no one from the gallery, according to Prokopljevic, asked to examine his work, although from the title of the exhibition it can be assumed that it deals with political issues.

The "controversial " cartoon published by Politika displays Vucic as Don Quixote, with a Serbian flag in his hand, and Dacic as Sancho Pansa, both on horseback going towards a distant horizon in the form of the flag of the European Union.

"About a month ago I received an invitaiton from the Air Force Home, which operates the ‘Ikar' gallery, to hold an exhibition. I have held exhibitions there several times. Nobody asked to see my work, but they contacted me only when they saw the invitation", explained Prokopljevic.

In order to get comments of the other side, Politika has tried to contact the gallery, where no one answered the phone. The Ministry of Defense, which has jurisdiction over the Air Force Home, did not answer the question why the exhibition is postponed.