The Illustratum exhibition displays a selection of old cartoons that have been published in the independent university newspaper Quod Novum, the predecessor of Erasmus Magazine. This exhibition was officially opened on Thursday afternoon.
During the move of the magazine, EM editorial assistant and illustrator Esther Dijkstra, found the drawings in a box. “When I saw the illustrations, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a gold mine’.”
This exhibition shows that you can also bring news and debate with illustrations, says Wieneke Gunneweg, EM editor-in-chief. The drawings are from the seventies, eighties and nineties and sketch the spirit of the times. “Especially in the seventies and eighties, there were a lot of protests and it was also the start of the democratisation of the university,” says Gunneweg. “So, you can see clearly that the atmosphere back then was very different from now.”
Artist Luuk Bode finds the illustrations extraordinary. “Even the smallest drawings have beautiful details. It requires a lot of concentration and focus to make them.”
Watch the opening video here:
