Bidlo: Intertwining Love and Politics in WWII
April 27, 2024 at 2:00pm
TingFest is pleased to present an afternoon visit with Martin Horak, who will join us to discuss the work of František Bidlo, a prominent editorial cartoonist and anti-Nazi activist in Prague in the 1920s and 30s.
František Bidlo: Intertwining Love and Politics in WWII
Featuring Martin Horak in conversation with Josh Lambier
Saturday, 27 April, 2:00PM
Western University Professor Martin Horak reaches into his family archive and shares a love story between his grandmother Greta and political cartoonist František Bidlo in 1942. Bidlo was a veteran cartoonist for Czech left-wing newspapers; Greta was a young anti-fascist activist. They met during the Nazi occupation of Prague, and we are given a brief glimpse into their relationship through the letters and comic pages that Bidlo mailed to Greta expressing his undying love for her before he was arrested by the Gestapo. The dialogue will be led by Josh Lambier, founder and artistic director of Words Festival. A selection of Bidlo’s work will be on display in our main gallery as part of Tingfest in addition to a special collection of letters in our LAB 203 gallery.
Who was František Bidlo?
František Bidlo (1895 – 1945) was a prominent editorial cartoonist and anti-Nazi activist in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in the 1920s and 30s. His work for major left-wing dailies was characterized by a dark humor that directly confronted the brutal violence of Nazism. After the beginning of World War II Bidlo was prohibited from working by the Nazi occupiers. He was imprisoned in January 1945, and died in May 1945 of typhoid fever.
