On the heels of the terror attacks in Paris, a number of artists have been taking pen in hand to express their view of the events. One frequently represented motif is the Eiffel Tower as a symbol of peace.
Image: Facebook/Jean Jullien
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Reactions to the attacks in Paris: solidarity drawings
"I am Paris" is the message of one of many hashtags under which people have been expressing solidarity and a spirit of resistance. The drawings are spreading quickly in the social media.
Image: Twitter/ @CoralieMensa/Pierro Mensa
Logo: #PeaceForParis
The Eiffel Tower as a peace sign: the drawing by Jean Julien is probably getting the heaviest circulation in the social media, turning up not only on the Internet but all over the world. People are putting it on T-shirts, their bodies and houses.
Image: Facebook/Jean Jullien
Long live "savoir-vivre"
Johann Sfar, one of Paris's best-known comics artists, reacted immediately to the attacks. In his instagram account (https.://instagram.com/joannsfar/), he spread this message: #Parisisaboutlife.
Image: Instagram/Joann Sfar
Paris, don't let them get you down!
... writes caricaturist #Baudry from Paris, transforming the French capital into a single pool of blood divided into halves by the River Seine. Yet the image is also an expression of defiance. He dubbed it "Paris Rage."
Image: Twitter/@cyrilrtour/@hervebaudry
Blood-drenched flag
This drawing by caricature artist Carlos Latuff also quickly spread under the hashtag #JeSuisParis. The red, white and blue French flag morphs into a shroud with the blood of victims issuing forth.
Image: Twitter/@ClaudeGaignard/@LatuffCartoons
Eiffel Tower in a stranglehold
Paris's best known landmark, the Eiffel Tower, turns up in a drawing by @MarianKamensky as well. It makes a reference to "Alladin and His Magic Lamp," the fairy tale. But this time, "IS" lets the genie out of the bottle, and the evil spirit has the tower in its deathly grip.
Image: Twitter/@DonzelliX/@MarianKamensky1
Symbols of mourning
A message from artist Chaunu showing the country united in sadness and the moon shining dramatically in the background. The woman is wearing a red Jacobin Cap - a symbol of uprising during the French Revolution.
Image: Twitter/@Zeli50/Chaunu
This cannot be the end of freedom!
@Elinoux drew Marianne, a figure of national importance during the French Republic who was immortalized as the combatative leader in Eugène Delacroix' painting "La Liberté guidant le peuple" (Liberty Leading the People). Showing Marianne in tears, Elina brings the nation's past struggles to mind.
Image: Twitter/@Elinoux
Grieving by drawing
@BryanSaintpaul posted this drawing in various social networks and under different hashtags. It seems to show how confusing the events have been. In the center, the Eiffel Tower is rocked by a detonation.
Image: Twitter/@Elinoux
Worldwide solidarity
Under the hashtag #Marseilleendeuil, the southern French city of Marseilles expresses its own grief - a city also strongly populated by people from Arab countries. @Pierromensa drew "La Bonne Mère Pense à Paris" (The Grandmother Thinks of Paris).
Image: Twitter/ @CoralieMensa/Pierro Mensa
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On January 7, when staff members of the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" died in the horrific attack on their editing staff in Paris' 11th arrondissement, numerous colleagues expressed solidarity using imagery. Spreading like wildfire on the Internet, their drawings became symbols of resistance.
On Friday evening (13.11.2015) as well, shortly after the attacks on five sites in Paris and the Stade de France, artists uploaded sketches that were immediately shared by people all over the world. Probably the most famous comes from the pen of Jean Julien. Since emerging under hashtags such as #JeSuisParis or on Facebook, it has become omnipresent. People are putting it on their clothing, posting it on Facebook, printing it as a poster or holding it up in the air during anti-terror demonstrations.
The drawings express various feelings: solidarity, mourning and the will to resist. Under the hashtag #donotprayforparis, artists such as Joann Sfar, a resident of the city, express their wish not to let the events get one down.
"Fight religious ideology" is the main message of #donotprayforparis.Image: Twitter/@LoicBaudry
Attack on French "savoir-vivre"
The attack sites on Friday evening were places where people get together to have fun and enjoy themselves. They were sitting in restaurants or bars - or listening to a concert at the Bataclan. "They didn't know somebody had declared war on them," wrote Johann Sfar under one of his drawings.
