{"id":103065,"date":"2019-09-16T13:31:06","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T11:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=103065"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:28","slug":"cartoonists-had-free-rein-at-quod-novum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/09\/16\/cartoonists-had-free-rein-at-quod-novum\/","title":{"rendered":"Cartoonists had free rein at Quod Novum"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Erasmus Gallery presents a selection of satirical cartoons published in <\/span>Quod Novum<\/span>, <\/span>Erasmus Magazine<\/span>\u2019s predecessor. Original, hand-made drawings from the \u201970s, \u201980s and \u201990s
\nthat were found tucked away in a moving box. \u201cThey give you a wonderful idea of what the university was like in those days.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jo Ritzen, Minister of Education between 1989 and 1998, was a popular object of ridicule. At the end of 1994 he planned on cutting back on higher\neducation by raising the tuition fee by 1,000 guilders. \u201cMagic Jo making problems in education disappear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJoop Verkamman<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

For years, you could find an old moving box gathering dust in a corner of Erasmus Magazine\u2019s various offices. \u201cOne of those boxes that had been used seven hundred times and taken along with each move without ever being opened\u201d, says editorial assistant (and illustrator) Esther Dijkstra. During the last move, she decided to clean out \u2018this old junk\u2019.<\/p>\n

So she opened the box. And found a goldmine. \u201cIt was full of illustrations from EM\u2019s predecessor, Quod Novum. Satirical cartoons about university a\ufb00airs in the \u201970s, \u201980s and \u201990s. Back when illustrators still dropped by the editorial office in person to hand in a paper copy.\u201d<\/p>\n

'Real gems'<\/h2>
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A good cartoon can be understood in one\nimage. Joop Verkamman shows nicely how the student associations compete with each other during the Eurekaweek in 1994.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJoop Verkamman<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cIt was a shame to have all this work hidden away somewhere. So I thought it would be a good idea to do something with the originals.\u201d An enthusiastic Dijkstra phoned up the curators of Erasmus Gallery, the exhibition space between the Auditorium and Theil Hall, and told them about her find. University art adviser Anne Clement: \u201cIt didn\u2019t take long for her to spark my interest. I went straight over to the editorial office to have a look for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hand-drawn cartoons turned out to be of \u2018extremely high quality\u2019, remembers Clement. \u201cI had so much fun and laughed so hard that afternoon. There were some real gems.\u201d Together with illustrator and Erasmus Gallery curator Luuk Bode, Clement made an initial selection. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t include everything. Right now, around a third of what was stored in the box is up on the gallery walls. The \u00a0cartoons give you a wonderful idea of what the university was like in those days. You can see the illustrators\u2019 individual styles, how critical they were of current developments and how they mocked politicians,\u201d says Clement.<\/p>\n

Wieners and nipples<\/h2>

Another thing that became clear looking through the pictures: back then, cartoonists more or less had free rein. \u201cWith some images, you couldn\u2019t help wondering: would we still be able to publish this? Erasmus engaging in S&M, for example, or with his wiener out. And they had no problem with showing nipples either. Nowadays, people are a lot more wary of what\u2019s \u2018decent\u2019 or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bode and Clement didn\u2019t order the works chronologically, but rather thematically: \u201cOne wall with all these pictures of Erasmus, for example; and another with political cartoons.\u201d To make it even more exciting for the viewer, the exhibition has all sorts of Easter eggs. \u201cFor instance, if you look carefully, you can find a drunken Erasmus hidden somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cigarette smoke filled offices<\/h2>

The gallery walls also feature illustrations by Luuk Bode. \u201cTo connect the past and the present. I wanted to convey the atmosphere of the editorial offices back then, filled with cigarette smoke \u2013 and quite a bit of drinking too. And the owl, which represents wisdom and was part of Quod Novum\u2019s logo\u201d, explains Bode.<\/p>\n\n\t

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About the exhibition<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t