The First Day of Stormont by Ian Knox (1998)

A free political cartoons exhibition “Laughter in the Dark – Illustrating the Troubles” is running in Belfast’s Linen Hall Library for the rest of the month.

The exhibition which charts the birth and rise of the political cartoon and its important role in the political landscape of Northern Ireland.

The Disagreement by Ian Knox (1998)

It features examples of original artwork by Irish News cartoonist Ian Knox and the late Rowel Friers, who worked for the Belfast Telegraph, as well as cartoons by artists such as The Guardian‘s Martin Rowson.

2000AD artist PJ Holden leads a free cartoon workshop there on 22nd January, for over 16s only. Running from 11.30 – 1.00pm, participation is free but you must book a place, and places are limited. If you are interested please book a place via the Linen Hall Library web site.

After he moved to the Irish News, Ian Knox also began working for the BBC Northern Ireland current affairs programme Hearts & Minds and told the BBC for their report on the exhibition that drawing cartoons is “either a feast or a famine”.

“Sometimes it’s hard to pick just one thing to hang your hook on,” he said.

“It’s not like square meals a day that you sit down to, but that’s part of the fun – the moment of panic, then the rejection and then the acceptance and the rush to get it done, because you’re always drawing at a high rate of knots”.

The exhibition is part of the Library’s Divided Society project which is digitising large parts of the Northern Ireland Political Collection, held by the Linen Hall.

• Laughter in the Dark – Illustrating the Troubles runs at the Linen Hall Library, 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, Belfast BT1 5GB until the end of January 2018

Opening times – Library: Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 5.30pm, Saturday: 10am – 3.30pm. Coffee Shop: Monday to Friday, 10am – 4pm, Saturday, 10am – 3.30pm. Tel: 028 9032 1707 | Web: linenhall.com. Admission: falthough charges apply for group tours and some events

Featured cartoons copyright Ian Knox

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions

Tags: Belfast, downthetubes News, Exhibition, Ian Knox, Laughter in the Dark - Illustrating the Troubles, Linen Hall Library, PJ Holden, Rowel Friers