Cartoons between the political and the personal

September 20 2018

The Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Upper Secondary Schools launched this year’s topic, “Drawing as a form of expression”, with an event at the Chapter Festival in Stavanger, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, 20 September.

Meet three comic strip creators who, in different ways, use personal feelings to promote political messages. Ellen Ekman, Ali Dorani and Khalid Albaih will have seven minutes each to talk about how they work as comic strip creators, and what messages they want to put across.

Finally, comic strip critic and journalist Erle Marie Sørheim will chair a discussion about the distinction between the personal and the political in comic strips.

Ellen Ekman is known to many for her comic strip “Little Berlin”. The strip has won a number of prizes for its portrayal of urban hipsters.

Ali Dorani is an Iranian illustrator and comic strip creator and an asylum writer in Stavanger. He started drawing when interred at the strongly criticised Australian refugee camp on Manus Island.

Khalid Albaih uses drawings as political statements. He is best known for caricatures about the current political and religious situation in the Middle East. Albaih is a Sudanese citizen, born in Romania and raised in Qatar.

Link to the Facebook event.

The event is being presented by Chapter in cooperation with the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition and the Association !Read

Read more about the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition here and on the website at www.frittordkonkurransen.no.

About Kapittel:
Kapittel is a non-commercial literary festival organized in conjunction with the Stavanger public library since 1995. One of Kapittel’s primary objectives is to thematize human rights issues and contribute to the protection of the freedom of expression of writers.

News

Mykhailo Tkach, Andrei Aliaksandrau, Arevhat Sahakyan (Factor TV), Nino Bakradze (iFact), and Lola Tagaeva (Verstka).

Free Media Awards for 2026. Press freedom under pressure in wartime: – Silence does not protect democracy

September 29 2026

This year’s winners of the Free Media Awards from the Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit Stiftung Bucerius received their awards in Toppsalen at the Munch Museum in Oslo on 29 September 2026.
The Belarusian journalist and media manager Andrei Aliaksandrau came straight to Oslo after spending over five years in prison for his work. Aliaksandrau dedicated the award to imprisoned journalists and editors in Belarus and quoted the Liverpool FC anthem: “You’ll never walk alone”.

Mykhailo Tkach heads investigations at Ukrainska Pravda, which uncovers corruption, even in a Ukraine fighting an existential war against Russia.
– I face charges in at least thirteen cases related to my work. I have been threatened. My team has been threatened. And what is our answer? To keep digging. Silence does not protect democracy. Journalism does.

Mykhailo Tkach

Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian, Russian and Belarusian journalists and media to receive five Free Media Awards for 2026

September 3 2026

This year’s prize laureates for the Free Media Awards from the Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit Stiftung Bucerius are:
The investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach from Ukraine
The investigative media outlet iFact from Georgia
The online media Factor TV from Armenia
The online media Verstka from Russia (in exile)
The journalist and media director Andrei Aliaksandrau from Belarus (imprisoned)*

Fritt Ord's grants for master’s degrees

August 30 2026

Is your master’s project about freedom of expression, social debate or journalism? If so, you can apply for a student grant from the Fritt Ord Foundation.

The Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute 2026

August 18 2026

The rap duo Karpe has been awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for giving voice to the experiences of many young people from minority backgrounds. Through the language of rap, they are expanding the space for the expression of identity and belonging.