A new step
at the 37th St-Just Festival

It is above all a great story of friendship that gave birth to the Cartooning Global Forum. A friendship born in Saint-Just-le-Martel, in the International Festival of Caricature and Cartooning, carried by Gérard Vandenbroucke for 37 years with consistency, generosity and fidelity, where are gathered every year several hundred cartoonists from around the world. Founded by Gérard Vandenbroucke, then Mayor of Saint-Just, with his friends Cabu, Plantu, Loup … among others, with derision as a key word, the meeting quickly became a major event at the service of press freedom. In 2006, the team of Saint-Just and Jean Plantu gave birth to the first exhibitions of what will become Cartooning for Peace and went together to the United Nations in New York for the first exhibition, before an international tour.

Supported by Europe and the Region, in September 2011, Saint-Just inaugurated the Permanent International Center for Caricature, Cartooning and Drawing of Humor. A unique gathering place for the Festival, but also an exhibition hall for retrospectives and events throughout the year. In 2016, the center received the office of Georges Wolinski, in tribute to friends killed in the attacks of January 7, 2015. Today, the Festival brings together the big names in international cartooning alongside young draughtsmen and women, caricaturists and renowned illustrators and satirical drawing lovers.

It was obvious to base the Cartooning Global Forum at the heart of this unifying setting, which is its headquarters. Thus, two major work meetings marked the 2018 festival, with the desire to unite even more participants and make this week of October 3, 2018 a lasting event. And the success of this first Global Forum was clearly made possible by the presence in the steering committee of the Permanent Center of Saint-Just-le-Martel, offering this event an aura of kindness and a strong feeling of unity. Real events outside the walls of the Festival giving it an international political influence, this Global Forum will continue to unfold during the week of the Festival of Saint-Just.

Philippe Henry and Guy Hennequin
Vice Présidents of the International Festival of Caricature, Cartooning and Drawing of Humor of Saint-Just-le-Martel