Willem: "You can't cut anything from the drawing"

On January 7, 2015, the Caricatoonist Artist Villem* (real name is Bernard Holbrop) walked the editorial glider in Charlie Hebdo. And so he survived. That terrorist attack took away, among others, the life of his closest friend, artist Philip Honore. In an interview with The New Times, 73-year-old Willem told why the caricature in the modern world is needed and why all are afraid of caricaturists

The reproduction of the William caricature on Nicolas Sarkozy, published in Charlie Hebdo, on May 2, 2007 , shortly after the Charlie Hebdo tragedy, you said that you were “sick of the so -called new friends of the newspaper - including Vladimir Putin, Queen Elizabeth and Pope” ...

Caricaturist Willem

Well, about nausea - this is, of course, in a fit of emotions. I just watched the politicians made themselves ratings on the tragedy of Charlie Hebdo, and this became unbearable. Look at the same Sarko (ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy.- NT ), who climbed forward on the march on January 11 to get into the photo with the heads of state. He was disgraced until the end of his life. Or Marin Le Pen (the leader of the National Front of the Extreme Right Party. - NT ), taking advantage of the convenient case, she again accused Muslims and immigrants of France in all of France in general. African dictators, Russian Minister Lavrov, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, King of Jordan and other people who often acted in contradiction with the principles of Charlie Hebdo came to the march on the 11th. I looked and thought: "Where are they going at all?" It is very embarrassed to have such "friends." Actually, in the new room of Charlie Hebdo (it was released on January 14 with a 7 millionth circulation and was sold out in a matter of hours.- NT ) I just made a small drawing called “New Friends of Charlie”-there are imam, rabbi and dad standing side by Je Suis Charlie posters. Yes, the movement of solidarity with the newspaper adopted a planetary scale, but, you see, something in this movement was really ridiculous.

And what is the situation in the editorial office now? You know, as a ghost - I go, give my drawing and immediately leave. I do not like to sit in the editorial office, I need freedom. Once I loved to come to editorial flyers-because they rather resembled parties. But then he stopped loving. For many years, the director of the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo was Philip Val, with whom I did not have a relationship - he was too authoritarian. I came to work, took my mail, a fresh issue of the newspaper, and then went to the bistro nearby - sat down and read.

Many new newspapers, magazines and television channels around the world expressed solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, but very few decided to reprint its caricatures. Probably, the majority were frightened by economic consequences - that advertisers will turn away from them (by the way, there were never advertising in Charlie Hebdo). But there are countries where such things simply cannot be published by law. In France, you can publish anything. Of course, then they can sue you, but it’s still worth risking - I think so.

Personally, I have never received threats, although the newspaper was particularly threatened by my caricatures. Often they sued me. Once a long time ago, Jean Mar Le Pen wrote a statement to me, I don’t even remember for what reason. Every time someone sued me, I regretted that I did not make the drawing even harder and more acute.

About Charlie Hebdo often they say that this is one of the last ideological strongholds of May 1968. Indeed, Charlie Hebdo preserved the spirit of that anarchist freedom, although most employees of the current edition were born after the 68th. It is all the more funny that the police are now guarded by the police now ... I had magnificent memories from that period - we had a holiday every day, we had fun, made all sorts of nonsense. The editors then fit in a room on Montolon Street in the 9th district of Paris. I just arrived from Holland and pretended to understand French, although I did not understand a damn thing. Therefore, I can’t even say what my local colleagues talked to each other all the time - we understood each other through the drawings. I remember once one cartoonist from Switzerland came to the editor. He made very good drawings and wanted to constantly cooperate, I told him then: “Well, no, we already have one person who writes in French with errors.”

Around the same time, I started working in the Harai-Kiri magazine, which, now you can honestly say about it, did not differ in good taste. Well, then we are all together with Honore, Kabu, Volinski (Georges David Volinski, a well-known cartoonist, died on January 7th.- NT ) and others founded Charlie Hebdo. It was a triumph of Burlesque-a cheerful, cocky ... For a long time we thought that May 68th forever liberated the consciousness of people. But today we need to admit: everything turned out exactly the opposite - the situation for the creative spirit has become in the literal sense of the word deadly. Now, for example, you can easily kill you for caricatures. In the late 60s, I am sure that there would simply not have been people who were ready to come to the editor and shoot cartoonists.

But why did this become possible now? Don't know. It seems that there is a rebellion of clericals. After all, recently we have received threats not only from Muslims, but also from Catholics-Integrists, orthodox Jews. Society is becoming more closed. Yesterday, for example, we and my wife went in a taxi. The Muslim driver at first very sharply spoke about Charlie Hebdo. I began to talk to him, explain some things. Fortunately, by the end of the trip we were already laughing and joked. It’s good that there is still an opportunity to laugh at least together. But it became harder to speak with people - people were stuffed with doctrines. All that we can do is continue to draw, free people from the power of doctrines and dogmas with laughter. You say: "This is utopia." Let it be so, but there are no other options.

The problem is that there are enough idiots in France. After January 7, the so -called “Charlie Hebdo supporters” attacked some mosques - and these people actually had nothing to do with us. Islamophobia and anti -Semitism are planted around - and it seems that it will only be worse further.

Recently Plantu * ** The famous cartoon artist, his caricatures constantly appear on the first lane of the Le Monde newspaper. He said that modern editions are afraid of caricaturists. Do you agree with this? * Plantuu is a sweet good guy, and there is hardly an editorial office who is frightened by his works (laughs). But I have to note that Plantu does a very important work - it helps caricaturists in other countries that are pursued, which are threatened - and there are many of them now, for example, in Tunisia. Helps financially and morally - organizing support campaigns.

As for the fear of the caricature ... I understand that Plantu has in mind. A caricaturist is such a breed of an indomitable beast. You can cut words from the article, but you can’t cut anything out of the drawing.

Of course, among us there are those who agree to various kinds of concessions, regularly go to all meetings with the authorities, obediently accept any ideas of editors ... But to act in this way means to go against the essence of the profession. And its essence is that in any situation it is necessary to remain free.

What will become with Charlie Hebdo after the murder of the leading caricaturists of the publication? Without a doubt, they killed the best. But, thank God, Luza, RIC, Catherine and Coco are alive - they will be able to continue the work that has begun. I will help them in this.

* Willem came to France from his native Holland at the height of the Revolution of May 1968 and remained in Paris. Soon he began to cooperate with the founded artist Jean Kabu (he was also killed on January 7) with a satirical magazine Hara-Kiri, who later grew into Charlie Hebdo. In general, Willem was a regular author of many Parisian publications, but regularly collaborated with only two - Libération and Charlie Hebdo. Photo: Charlie Hebdo, Pierre Duffur/Afp