A week ago on the 15th of March, Christchurch, New Zealand was shocked by a senseless, violent gun attack on two mosques in the city that left 50 people dead.
The media was quick to respond, with live televised updates as the tragic events unfolded. Within 30 minutes of listening to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressing the nation on live television, Invercargill cartoonist Shaun Yeo produced a cartoon to express the sorrow he felt in the immediate aftermath. "I had a blank sheet of paper on my desk. It took me 20 minutes to draw the Kiwi...I was trying to convey the sadness", Yeo told the Stuff News website. The Cartoon was soon shared on social media and within hours it had gone viral, shared and viewed millions of times around the world. Currently it has 42 thousand shares on Facebook and reached more than 3.4 million people. You can read Yeo's full interview with Stuff HERE.
Above: Artwork from This is Us by Toby Morris. Copyright Toby Morris 2019.
On March 18th, The Spinoff contributing writer/cartoonist Toby Morris (The Pencilsword and The Side-Eye) expressed his feelings regarding New Zealand's complicated history of race relations and intolerance in the cartoon, This is Us. You can read the full comic at The Spinoff HERE. The cartoon was widely circulated - both local and internationally, and Morris was subsequently interviewed by the BBC, which you can view HERE.
Rod Emmerson produced the following cartoons for the NZ Herald March 15th, 18th (cover and cartoon), 19th, 20th and 22nd edition. Copyright Rod Emmerson 2019.
Sharon Murdoch produced the following cartoons for the Sunday Star Times March 17th edition and the Dominion Post March 20th and 22nd edition. Copyright Sharon Murdoch 2019.
Chris Slane produced the following cartoon for the NZ Listener. Copyright Chris Slane 2019.
An illustration by Wellington artist Ruby Jones was shared internationally in the wake of Christchurch attack, and she has since been commissioned by Time magazine to illustrate its international April 1 cover. "This cover image symbolises the strength that I am seeing and feeling right now in the world. And how tragedies like the terrorist attack in Christchurch do nothing but bring us closer together as a society," Jones told Time Magazine of her new piece. You can read her interview with Time magazine HERE.
Copyright Ruby Jones 2019.
Artwork from Jem Yoshioka via Twitter: she also has a hi-res version available for people to share HERE.
Artwork by Miriama Grace-Smith via Facebook:
Bill and Adele Geradts, the Christchurch organisers of the Armageddon Expo have sensibly responded to the events by banning military attire cosplay from all future events. Armageddon spokeswoman Courtney Collins informed Stuff News,"as a Christchurch-based business and being Christchurch residents ourselves, this felt like an appropriate response to ensure the peace of mind of the general public, as well as our event attendees." You can read the full article on this HERE.
If you would like to offer your support for New Zealand's Muslim communities, The Spinoff have produced this helpful list of events, places you can donate and volunteer HERE.
My thoughts are with the Muslim community and my comics friends and family in Christchurch - look after each other.
- AK xx
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