The French expression “humour salvateur” would fit it perfectly. But it can also be an expression of grief and anger. “Upfront and personal”, the free exhibition conceived by the British Council and open until 12 november at the Quality Living Centre in Castel, Phoenix, is an often funny and moving opportunity to catch the uneasy relationship between politics,the media, and the common people. Along with more “serious” billboards from the last 30 years of political and social events, it constitutes a «best of» works of caricaturists from the UK, South Africa and, now, from Mauritius.

One guesses that to be a good caricaturist, one has to possess some of the qualities of an editorialist : be over critical, yet simple and close to the people, be a good watchdog, and be sincere… These gifts are not granted to everyone. A spontaneous, immediate form of communication, caricature most of the time plays on irony, meanings words don’t say, and unleashes silent messages that often defy prejudice or censorship. On another level, the humour it often conveys makes us smile over issues that are in fact serious. It is light, in every sense of the word, but also full of feeling.

To display caricatures in an exhibition frees them from the contingency of politics and social trends. They can then speak for themselves as works of art -but how many so-called «works of art» have the direct impact and implication of Deven Teeroovengadum’s work- or, on the contrary, become inoffensive or disconnected. What is paradoxical is that, as comments on breaking news or precise social debates, they were not intended to last. Yet they are unique opportunities to arouse our curiosity and to catch our attention in a civilization where words have lost much of their strength, with langage abusers reigning.

And, as language can be beautiful, caricatures can also be appreciated for their graphism. It would perhaps have been enriching to appreciate the direct contrast between Abdul Kalla’s somewhat expressionist touch and the more humane, but not less effective, trait of his colleague Stéphane Benoit’s daily contributions to l’express. The wit inRoger Merven’s and Yvan Martial’s realizations seems more literary and less purely graphical.

By contrast, the billboards and slogans that are so moving -the ones that tell of the fight for freedom in South Africa- seem to speak of a different story than that of caricature. They seem to be made of flesh where the latter look more evanescent. They are indeed strongly related. Look at a pond: you have the surface of the water and you have the depth of it. But the element is the same. And sometimes sound is evident at the surface. An exhibition not to be missed by all those who value a critical mind.

Jake NICHOLSON