Tell us, when and how did your cartoons come about?
JK: (Jitet Koestana) I’ve loved drawing since young, whether it’s on a blank piece of paper, a wall, or just sand. It became a natural habit! In 1987, I started out as a freelance cartoonist. My modest first cartoon obtained a place in a local newspaper, Harian Suara Merdeka, in Semarang, Indonesia.
What is the best thing about being a cartoonist?
JK: I feel very blessed and happy to be given this talent, which enables me to remind society of environmental destruction, climate change and global crises in a lighthearted way. To me, this is the best “voice” towards the powerful people that control society.
What is your view on global warming?
JK: It’s all due to our irresponsible ways! We must change our ignorant and selfish ways that are the underlying causes of this global destruction. I believe we will suffer from all of this. Whether it is the first world or third, every government should step up their policymaking and accelerate efforts to combat global warming.
What is it you like about cartoons?
JK: The tongue-in-cheek nature of this art is what makes it unique. I feel that expressing a complicated or worrisome situation through cartoons can make you happy and forget about its seriousness for a bit. Although most of my work is inclined towards the downtrodden’s point of view, it still reflects on life as a whole.
Share with us your journey as a cartoonist.
JK: In 1990 and 1991, I was working as an in-house cartoonist with Harian Kartika in Semarang, Indonesia. From 1991 to 1994, I went to another publication called Humor in Jakarta and soon after, a magazine titled Raket, which became a tabloid. I freelanced again for about a year. From 1999 to 2005, I worked full-time in Tabloid Senior in the main city. Today I’m with Indonesia’s most widely read newspaper, Harian Kompas.
We know you are an advocate against global warming. Tell us what you have done on your part.
JK: My current employer feels very strongly on doing our part. A few months back, together with some friends, we held exhibitions in major cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, and Yogyakarta as part of an awareness campaign.
Do you think your artwork is an effective medium to educate people on global warming or being a green generation?
JK: This may sound biased, but I’d say cartoons are very effective as a universal communications tool, and they clarify complex issues very well. Of course this is not brainwashing. Cartoons spur people to take action and applaud the right actions made, even at the individual level, in saving our planet.
