Pierre Kroll returns to one of his caricatures: “The savage of Ath is not there to make fun of blacks”

Pierre Kroll was the guest of the 1 p.m. news. He returns to his caricature of the savage of the Ducasse de Ath.

Pierre Kroll publishes, like every year, a brand new album in which he summarizes the annual news through his drawings. According to him, this year is just a string of bad news: “We saw the virus leave, we have the impression that things are better. And there, bardaf, there are troops in Ukraine and then it’s war very close to home!“. This bad news does not however prevent him from approaching serious subjects with lightness.

Should we rethink folklore?

Recently, Pierre Kroll illustrated the problem that hits the Ducasse de Ath with full force. UNESCO threatens to remove folklore from the intangible cultural heritage of humanity because of the character of the savage, considered racist.

“Me, these are things that irritate me because we mix everything up a bit. One can criticize certain folklore (…). There can be mean laughs, failed laughs, racist laughs that are not tolerable. But frankly, the savage of Ath, he is not there every year to be racist or to make fun of blacks. He’s here to scare the kids“, he is exasperated on the set.

“What annoys me is that we forget that these things are made for fun, for laughs. It’s like when people say that ogres are going to eat children, they don’t really believe it. Saint Nicholas, do you really think he’s a bishop? No, because there aren’t any real ones with long white hair who come to give candy to children. Well there’s no real savage in the streets of Ath.” He asks himself: “It is for a laugh and, damn it, is it still possible?“.