‘Caricatucracy’: Satire, society and the art of reimagining power

Cartoonist Francois Galea is presenting an exhibition at the Basement Vaults at the Malta Society of Arts, a collaborative project with the Malta Festival of Ideas.

During the second edition of the festival, which was held last October, Galea was asked to sketch, live, both the various panellists and the subjects discussed.

Caricatucracy: Ruling by Cartoons showcases his artistic interpretation, a compilation of these ideas through caricature, presenting one narrative-based scene in ink and watercolour for each of the five days of the festival.

Francois Galea

These are accompanied by some of the sketches in which Galea drew whatever came to mind in the moment so that the viewer can see the connection from off-the-cuff discussions to the end results.

“It was a challenge to encapsulate the multitude of subjects and ideas: I had to hone it down to concise summaries which encapsulate serious themes, including war and conflict, elements of the past and the future, symbolism such as a dove for peace, and a tongue-in-cheek element,” Galea explains.

“The finished works appear straightforward, but take an extra moment to look a little longer, and you’ll glean additional details and layers of thought.”

The title of the show is a play on words: Galea updates the Greek term kakistocracy, a term describing a society ruled by its worst and least competent citizens, updated for today’s world which is, perhaps, increasingly being ruled by caricatures, he explains.

One of the finished works depicts the content of a festival discussion about various forms of artistic expression and their role in activism or ‘artivism’.

“I took this basic theme,” Galea continues, “and I created a scene in which there are politicians on one side − and viewers will recognise who they are – in a stand-off with artists on the other. Their pens and the pencils represent their weapons; there are military planes flying from one side and paper planes flying from the other and a light bulb in the middle symbolises an idea.”

There are lot of things you can take from this: it’s a dance of ideas, right brain against left, the artistic world and our creative force against the intellectual and bureaucratic- Francois Galea

“There are lot of things you can take from this: it’s a dance of ideas, right brain against left, the artistic world and our creative force against the intellectual and bureaucratic. It’s satirical yet light-hearted and open to interpretation by the viewer, rather than imposing a particular viewpoint.”

The underlying idea of a chaotic, creative power fighting against a structured intellectual base underlies the entire collection, as Galea questions where they meet, considers how different viewpoints can come together and reimagines tomorrow through an artistic lens, envisaging a different and better future. 

“Artists and creative thinkers, from fiction writers to musicians, have an important contribution to make to a vision of a better future, because they have a great capacity to be innovative, to visualise and imagine new things. The more you encourage, value and share this in a society, the stronger this creative force will be,” he adds.

“So, in my worldview, I would say that to reimagine the future, we need to begin with an art movement.”

Even the heavy use of ink as a dark, sombre background, from which Galea’s subjects stand out in primary colours, mirrors the idea that if people come together to think collaboratively and find solutions collectively, this will provide a bright way forward from a world that’s currently worrying or threatening. And Caricatucracy is a thought-provoking step in the right direction.

Kickstarting Malta Festival of Ideas’ cultural and artistic programme for 2026, Caricatucracy runs until March 25. It is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays between 4.30 and 8.30pm.

The project is supported by the Culture Directorate of Malta.