(ANSA) - Forte dei Marmi, August 11 - An exhibition in
this Tuscan seaside town is offering visitors a humorous
perspective on the financial crisis, with drawings by
cartoonists from around the world.
The event at Forte dei Marmi's Museum of Satire and
Caricature showcases 250 artworks exploring reactions to the
global economic downturn.
On display are sketches, watercolours and prints by over
200 artists from 50 countries, offering a range of ironic,
biting, humorous and occasionally optimistic interpretations
of the crisis.
''If we look at these images, the crisis starts appearing as less of a catastrophe,'' said Franco Angelo Calotti of the Political Satire Awards Committee. ''It might be optimism that makes us laugh but in the end you come away feeling everything will eventually be okay''.
In addition to entertaining visitors, the exhibition also asks them to think about what the crisis means for different people, offering a global snapshot of attitudes in recent months.
''The show is a kind of sociological study of actions and reactions towards an economy that has turned the entire system upside down,'' commented Calotti.
One element that struck organizers was how perspectives on the downturn varied in different parts of the world.
In industrialized countries, the cartoons identified it with banking problems, crises on the financial markets, investment issues and job losses.
However, satirists in developing countries focused more on food shortages and the lack of natural resources, often linked to the concept of an industrialization process gone haywire.
Not surprisingly, artists from around the world often spotlighted national - particularly political - issues stemming from the downturn.
The event includes work by around 60 well-known Italian humorists, as well as artists from as far away as Nigeria, Mongolia and Myanmar.
Among the top European names are Plantu from Paris's Le Monde, Andrzej Krauze of London's The Guardian, Dutch artist Tom Janssen and Russia's Mikhail Zlatkovsky.
Entitled 'Ma cos'e' questa crisi?' ('What is this crisis?), the exhibition is on show until October 4.
''If we look at these images, the crisis starts appearing as less of a catastrophe,'' said Franco Angelo Calotti of the Political Satire Awards Committee. ''It might be optimism that makes us laugh but in the end you come away feeling everything will eventually be okay''.
In addition to entertaining visitors, the exhibition also asks them to think about what the crisis means for different people, offering a global snapshot of attitudes in recent months.
''The show is a kind of sociological study of actions and reactions towards an economy that has turned the entire system upside down,'' commented Calotti.
One element that struck organizers was how perspectives on the downturn varied in different parts of the world.
In industrialized countries, the cartoons identified it with banking problems, crises on the financial markets, investment issues and job losses.
However, satirists in developing countries focused more on food shortages and the lack of natural resources, often linked to the concept of an industrialization process gone haywire.
Not surprisingly, artists from around the world often spotlighted national - particularly political - issues stemming from the downturn.
The event includes work by around 60 well-known Italian humorists, as well as artists from as far away as Nigeria, Mongolia and Myanmar.
Among the top European names are Plantu from Paris's Le Monde, Andrzej Krauze of London's The Guardian, Dutch artist Tom Janssen and Russia's Mikhail Zlatkovsky.
Entitled 'Ma cos'e' questa crisi?' ('What is this crisis?), the exhibition is on show until October 4.
