Delhi: People know my work in India… it’s been a shock and a surprise, says Maltese-American cartoonist Joe Sacco

Joe Sacco, a Maltese-American journalist and cartoonist with a career spanning over three decades, is to do a book signing at 3:30 pm.

Sacco (64) sketched the seminal Palestine among many other books documenting life in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. He stayed in Palestine for two months amid the First Intifada in 1991-92. He is widely considered the pioneer of investigative reporting and journalism through the comics medium.

Edward Said in the preface of Palestine, says of Sacco: “What finally makes Sacco so unusual a portrayer of life in Occupied Palestinian Territories is that his true concern is finally history’s victims.”

In Journalism, Sacco says: “I chiefly concern myself with those who seldom get a hearing, and I don’t feel it is incumbent on me to balance their voices with the well-crafted apologetics of the powerful.”

Even now, he tells this reporter, “There is a feeling of helplessness in watching the relentless attack in Gaza and the West Bank. Whatever the consequences, if the artist or journalist is disgusted by what is going on, they need to say something. They have a power of sorts, even if it is limited. They must not be quiet even if they are destined to fail.”

Sacco’s books, especially on Palestine, have garnered much attention since the crisis escalated in West Asia. Both in craft and content, many see his work as visionary.

The set-up is right outside the shop; some shelves have been moved into the space. Front and centre are Sacco’s Palestine, Footnotes in Gaza and The Fixer. But there are books on Palestine, wall to wall, wherever the eye goes — Isabella Hammad, Rashid Khalidi, Antony Lowenstein.

Many sit with one of them in their hands, reading in rapture, waiting for the cartoonist to arrive. Around them, many spirited discussions on everything from Gaza to the caste Census in India happen. Someone talks about their thesis — it’s on Joe Sacco. A man across the room catches her eye, and with a proud grin, pulls out his thesis and mouths “It’s on Joe, too!” The girl’s friend calls them “Thesis siblings”.

Brought by their theatre teacher, Sukriti Khurana (35), a group of 11 students sit in the front. In January, Joy of Drama, their organisation was preparing their students for an acting exam. The topic the students chose was Palestine. That was their first brush with Sacco. In May, they put up the show: Fictitious stories created from months of research on Palestine, told through the lens of teens in Delhi looking at teens in the Occupied Territories. Sukriti says, “In the play, they showcased how a teen in Palestine does not have the luxury to meet their partner, goof around, or access basic medical care like them.”

One of the students, the child of one of the people who helped organise the event at Midlands, does the introduction for Joe Sacco when he arrives.

Sacco takes the mic and says: “I actually had no clue that people knew my work in India. It’s been a shock and a surprise.”

As the signing begins, there are regular announcements to “please take two steps back”. The kids get to get their books signed first. It’s hot, it’s cramped. Yasser also stands in line, spilling over into neighbouring shops and waits for over half an hour to catch a glimpse of Sacco.

From there, Sacco makes his way to Lodhi Colony’s The Bookshop. There too, barely 15 minutes into the event, the venue reaches capacity. Inside, “Voices against Genocide” – a small collective organising cultural and literary events around Palestine in Delhi – has set up shop in a last-minute collaboration with The Bookshop. They’re selling prints and Keffiyehs. The proceeds go to the Samir Foundation providing medical aid in Palestine.

Of the many prints on sale, one has been contributed by artist and retired professor, Vasudha Thozhur (67), called “Colours for Blood: Painting for Palestine”. Speaking of her work, she says, “This was in April. It had been six months since the genocide began and what was happening in Gaza was just so horrifying. I was fascinated by the number of images in the media space which blurred out so-called ‘triggering’ moments. And most of them had these blurs. What does that tell us?”

She is also interested in modes of representation that do not sensationalise horror for visibility – so the blurs serve a double purpose. She adds, “For me as a painter, it is important to state that painting – and its set of dialectics – can be a language of resistance and protest… a way to put a message across.”

In the bookstore, Amita (name changed), 30, the point person for the collective, says, “We found that there was a lack of knowledge of the historical and cultural context of Palestine pre-October 7… I came back from Cambridge, where I had participated in the protests. Here, the idea is to do some grassroots work and make people more aware and fundraise for ground work in Palestine.” In a month, they have collected Rs 70,000.

As the scheduled hour wraps up, the crowd is yet to abate. Many who walked in are wearing keffiyehs as they get ready to leave. Outside the shop and inside, there are a hundred conversations. Most are about art and the art of sending a message across.

After the event, Sacco talks of his experience in Delhi and how he would sketch the city in a frame or two: “I’m always impressed by the amount of traffic on the road and the way the vehicles weave around each other. If it might look like semi-chaos to an outsider, it also seems like a kind of urban ballet.” About the day, Sacco says, “I was taken aback by the number of people who came to my signings. I only wish I had more time to interact with each individual.”