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July 22nd, 2007

Hereford Cathedral cartoon row

I’ve always found that the word ‘row’ helps to attract visitors to a blog post, hence the title.

One of my cartoons is being used as part of an exhibition in the Hereford Cathedral library. I was unaware of the fact until Simon, of Thinking Anglicans website fame, saw it there and reported the fact to me. I am flattered of course, as I am rarely exhibited, although it might have been nice to have been told.

The exhibition is called Distorted Image, and…

It explores how distorted images throughout history have resulted in prejudice, discrimination and enslavement.

…which is encouraging.

I’d like to apologise now for all of the prejudice, discrimination and enslavement that my work has caused. The cartoon in question, which is in a display case along with several old books including Amazing Grace originals and suchlike, is this one:

cartoon

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34 Responses to “Hereford Cathedral cartoon row”


  1. MadPriest says:

    It’s no good apologizing now, it is far too late. Your cartoons are responsible for schism, the weak dollar and global warming. You are a very naughty boy.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 8:22 am
  2. Kathryn says:

    “Simon of Thinking Anglicans…. “hmmmn… that’ll be “Sinking Anglicans” then, according to CT… which as we watch the floods rise across Gloucestershire seems quite apposite..

    July 23rd, 2007 at 10:06 am
  3. joe says:

    Mind you, it is one of your finest pieces Dave.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 10:43 am
  4. Peter Kirk says:

    And I was hoping to see a cartoon on the Bishop of Hereford and the youth worker who was refused a job because he was gay!

    But you are too modest to note that your work is being displayed alongside the 8th century Hereford Gospels, a 13th century map of the world, and the world’s largest surviving chained library.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
  5. David Keen says:

    As I looked at the cartoon, chains magically wrapped themselves around my wrists and ankles. Oops, sorry, forgot this wasn’t a Harry Potter site. You should demand an apology from the Cathedral for not telling you and ask them to pay the £35 sub.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm
  6. chris clark says:

    Perhaps it should be Sinking Anglicans needing to row…

    July 23rd, 2007 at 12:46 pm
  7. joe says:

    Too right you should charge them, Dave. In fact, you should charge them considerably more than £35 given that is the rate for using the cartoons in church and they’ve used it in an art exhibition.

    I’m no lawyer, but that seems a cut beyond ‘slightly impolite’.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 1:36 pm
  8. Janet Peltz says:

    Too bad the American church doesn’t have someone like Dave. We could certainly use him/her/it/them.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 2:20 pm
  9. Sarah B says:

    I’m certainly with David Keen (and Jerry Maguire – SHOW ME THE MONEY!)

    Dave you do need to bill them and point out it is actually copyright etc!

    I think a tribunal might be pushing it though as they’ve only just finished one…

    July 23rd, 2007 at 2:53 pm
  10. Arti says:

    Write a letter (email?) pointing out that you are very flattered but also trying to make a living. Hopefully they’ll get the point! You could include a link to this page on your blog!

    July 23rd, 2007 at 3:29 pm
  11. joe says:

    Or Dave could write a letter or email stating that he is not impressed or flattered that they chose to use his artwork to illustrate “distorted images throughout history have resulted in prejudice, discrimination and enslavement” without permission.

    The implication is clearly that Dave deliberately misrepresented the Primate meeting in order to promote prejudice, discrimination or enslavement.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 4:04 pm
  12. joe says:

    Hmm. it is not possible to leave comments on the cathedral website. Which is interesting, as I really really want to know the relevance of this cartoon to the exhibition.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 4:09 pm
  13. Karin says:

    Agreed. Dave’s cartoon would be better off in an exhibition illustrating how to gently point out how childishly primates can (and often do) behave. And even then he would be due a fee of at least £35. In fact the lack of asking for permission and fee could also illustrate how badly people in the church (or cathedrals) sometimes behave!! But perhaps they were caught up in the humour of Dave’s cartoon and laughed so much that the idea of asking for permission or paying him for using his work slipped their mind(s).

    July 23rd, 2007 at 9:57 pm
  14. Janet Peltz says:

    I send these around to other people in the States, and the response is uniformly favorable.

    July 23rd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
  15. Lois Keen says:

    I’d like to know what “distortion” the cathedral intends with Dave’s cartoon. I first saw it as the cathedral believing Dave was distorting the primates. But the second go round, I think maybe they are showing up the distorted image of women made by men. So, how do we find out what the cathedral intended in using Dave’s cartoon?

    July 24th, 2007 at 12:28 am
  16. terri c says:

    What a marvelous cartoon. I know the situation is specific, but I personally am capable of acting just as childishly as the primates and perhaps that is why I laughed so at this.

    July 24th, 2007 at 7:57 am
  17. jody says:

    perhaps the ‘distortion’ was believing that the primates are the ‘wisest and most mature christians in the entire worldwide church’?

    July 24th, 2007 at 9:16 am
  18. joe says:

    Just in from Hereford Cathedral:

    Dear Mr Turner,

    Thank you for alerting us to Mr Walker’s blog. We did seek permission from the publisher, and I have today contacted Mr Walker in the spirit that you recommend.

    I do want to assure you however, that Mr Walker’s excellent cartoon is in the exhibition as it satirises the very point with which we want people to engage: that if we distort the humanity of another person we may somehow justify unreasonable, prejudiced behaviour. The position of this contemporary work alongside `old books` is to try to raise the consciousness of people to current distorted images with their consequent current injustices, and not allow a semi-comfortable historical focus which shows the mistakes of those in previous generations but does not encourage us to look at our own attitudes towards those we marginalize. Far from perpetuating such distortion, Mr Walker’s cartoon succinctly captures its presence amongst some of our church leaders today.

    Please do contact me if you wish to discuss this further.

    With all good wishes,

    Val Hamer

    July 24th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
  19. jody says:

    aaah, I’m quite warming to Mr Val Hamer…..

    and to Joe, what a nice thing to do, sorry Dave, i didn’t immediately contact Hereford Cathedral, feel bad now, and a 2nd class commenter :-(

    ah well :-)

    July 24th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
  20. Karin says:

    Agreed, Jody, a nice response, but don’t you think Val Hamer could be a female Valerie? I know we have Val Doonican, but aren’t male Valeris less common?

    July 24th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
  21. joe says:

    Nope, Val is defo a guy Karin.

    July 24th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
  22. Karin says:

    Really? I’ll take your word for it, Joe, but I’d have thought that was unusual. I certainly know more female Vals than male ones.

    July 24th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
  23. Aaron says:

    I see your Val Doonican and raise you a Val Kilmer…

    July 24th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
  24. Karin says:

    Joe, you sounded so certain, but what do you make of this http://archive.herefordtimes.com/2002/10/17/43430.html ?

    July 24th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
  25. joe says:

    OK let us play spot the idiot.

    July 24th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
  26. Karin says:

    Can’t see any idiot Joe, but I’m wondering if you might just have been just a teeny bit prejudiced by the fact that Val Hamer is a Cannon and most, but not all these days, Cannons are male?? ;D

    July 24th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
  27. Jane R says:

    Pay the man! He has to feed his cats!

    July 25th, 2007 at 3:27 am
  28. joe says:

    I thought I saw a photo, but I must have imagined it.

    July 25th, 2007 at 9:11 am
  29. jody says:

    you know I think I had Val Kilmer in mind, there was a Val ***mer thing going on – now I think about it, it is more a female name.

    I can assure you that I didn’t know Val was a Cannon so that kind of thought didn’t cross my mind :-)

    I’m a real feminist at heart too.

    July 25th, 2007 at 9:14 am
  30. jody says:

    I just thought that ‘Jody’ is in fact a name that could be either male or female, though mostly female I guess – although it is normally spelled with an ‘ie’ as in ‘foster’ and occasionally with just an ‘i’, and tends to be the male version when it ends with a ‘y’, but my parents are funny like that.

    just to stop any confusion, I’m definitely a woman.

    July 25th, 2007 at 9:19 am
  31. Karin says:

    I thought you were female, Jody. It’s probably because of your turn of phrase.

    Btw, no one spotted my ‘deliberate’ spelling mistake. Val Hamer is in fact a Canon. She is not a metal tube from which large spherical lead objects are propelled with great force at groups of people deemed to be ‘the enemy’.

    There is obviously more than one potential idiot to be spotted here. ;)

    July 25th, 2007 at 9:28 am
  32. jody says:

    aha, I copied the ‘deliberate’ spelling mistake, thinking that I must have got it wrong previously – see, that’s peer pressure for you!

    July 25th, 2007 at 10:49 am
  33. Palmettopastor says:

    Not that I didn’t chuckle and understand the point of the cartoon, Janet, I bet you only sent it to certain segments of the American church and not uniformly to people on both sides of the issue.

    July 25th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
  34. Tired&Emotional says:

    I must say that you have, regardless of the “apology”, a strong legal case. I use as precedence the case of Kia Joorabchian v West Ham Utd FC (C’mon you Irons!). Mr Joorabchian claims that he owns the economic rights to Mr Carlos Tevez (please do not confuse with Mr Carlos The Jackal – they are not related) but Messers WHUFC own his registration, without which he cannot play for another team.

    Therefore I would submit, my ‘Lud, that our client Mr D’ave Walker should be awarded the amount of Hereford Cathedral in reparation for this unlawful act against his artistic work.

    Alternatively our client will settle for the 13th Century Map, the 8th Century Bible – so long as its the Revised Standard Authorised International RSVP edition of St Dude the Surfer – a new clutch for his motor home and a packet of extra strong mints.

    July 25th, 2007 at 4:29 pm