Exhibitions - Zemgus Zaharāns (Latvia)
From 30 june till 23 september 2024
Zemgus Zaharāns is a Latvian political cartoonist, illustrator and animator, born in Riga in 1980. He obtained a diploma in printing and offset lithography in Riga and studied in the Art Department of the Latvian Christian Academy. He also holds a professional bachelor's degree in Cultural Management from the Latvia University of Economics and Culture.
Zaharāns has been publishing in Latvian newspapers and magazines since 2003. In 2015, he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by the Latvian-American newspaper "LAIKS." Since 2022, he has been a freelance author and cartoonist for the Latvian Public Media news portal. He participated to the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event in Riga in 2015.
Since 2011, Zaharāns has founded and continues to lead the art studio Karikaturisti.lv, which creates advertisements, animated films, and, most importantly, unique drawings known as "pertoons" – personalized cartoons(a trademark registered in the USA) for gifts.
Since 2009, he has been drawing for one of the country's most popular newspaper, "Diena."
His works predominantly revolve around political themes.
Zaharans: ‘Because without freedom of expression, a cartoonist becomes merely an illustrator of someone else's ideas. And for that, we have Artificial Intelligence programs.’
The exhibition at the ECC can be visited from 30 June till September 15 2024, every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
