Exhibitions - António Antunes (Portugal)
From 24 september till 18 december 2023
Portuguese political cartoonist António Antunes was born on 12 April 1953 in Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon. In March 1974, a few weeks before the Portuguese revolution, he started as a professional cartoonist in the newspaper 'República', and since the end of 1974 he has worked as the in-house cartoonist of the weekly 'Expresso'.
Although Antunes' cartoons have won several awards and he is mentioned in several reference works on cartoons, some of his political drawings also provoked a lot of controversy. For instance, a 1982 cartoon about the Israel-Lebanon war, a 1992 caricature of Pope John Paul II and a 2019 cartoon featuring Trump and Netanyahu provoked a lot of protest.
Antunes is also dedicated to promoting cartoons as curator of the Cartoon Xira Festival and director of 'World Press Cartoon'. He had personal exhibitions in countries including Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Germany, China and the Netherlands. In his home country, too, his work is appreciated. Antunes made 50 caricatures in recessed stone representing distinguished Lisbon figures for Lisbon's Metropolitano 'Aeroporto' .
In 2005, he was decorated with the rank of 'Grand Officer in the Order of Dom Henrique' by the President of Portugal, followed by the national decoration of 'Commander in the Order of Freedom' in 2023.
Antunes won numerous international cartoon awards, some of which surely stand out:
· Grand Prix of the XX International Salon of Cartoons (Montreal, Canada, 1983).
· 1st Cartoon Editorial Award at the XXIII International Salon of Cartoons (Montreal, Canada, 1986).
· Gazeta Cartoon Prize (Lisbon, Portugal 1992)
· Grand Prize of Honor of the XV Festival of Humorous Drawing (Anglet, France, 1993).
· Award of Excellence -Best Newspaper Design, SND (Stockholm, Sweden 1995).
· International Prize for Political Satire (ex-aequo) - (Forte dei Marmi, Italy, 2002).
· Great Prize Stuart Carvalhais (Lisbon, Portugal 2005).
· Prix Presse Internationale (Saint-Just-le-Martel, France, 2010).
· Gazeta de Mérito Prize (Lisbon, 2018).
You can visit the exhibition of his works at the ECC from 24 september till 17 december 2023, every Sunday from 10 to 12 and from 14 to 17h.
