The Principal Prince Claus Award was presented to Jonathan Shapiro a.k.a. Zapiro in 2005. This recognition amply confirmed Zapiro’s status as a major cartoonist not only locally but also internationally. Jonathan Shapiro was born in Cape Town in 1958. At first he studied architecture before switching to graphic design, completing his studies with a Fulbright Scholarship at the School of Visual Arts in New York. On his return he worked with Story Circle producing educational comics on Aids education, democracy and the prevention of child abuse. He is a prolific cartoonist and his work currently appears in the Mail and Guardian, Sunday Times and the Independent Group newspapers. In 2001 he was the first cartoonist to win a category prize at the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards. In 2003 he was the only African cartoonist to be invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Rather than working with computer-generated imagery, his cartoons are drawn freehand using pen and ink. This exhibition consists of over 40 original drawings for the published cartoons, colour drawings and special colour artworks such as the original UDF calendar.
