Thirty cartoonists from the UK’s largest and oldest cartoonists’ organisation ‘smelled, sipped, slurped and sketched’ their way through a variety of award-winning Maltese wines last week during a day out at the Delicata winery.
The Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain was in Malta for its fourth consecutive annual mini-conference, affectionately known as its Mighty Malta Minicon. This event, which is held each year at the Pergola Hotel in Mellieħa, has now become a regular slot in the CCGB calendar of ‘top things to join in with’.
Members of the club and theirs guests were treated to a guided tour of Delicata’s winemaking facility and then given a tutored educational wine tasting session in the company’s wine cellars. After that, the professional cartoonists and caricaturists sketched over 50 wine-related cartoons, which were donated to the winery.
The cartoons were then judged by a Delicata panel. The winner, Tim Harries, was presented with a boxed three-litre double magnum of Gran Cavalier Merlot.
Founded in 1960 at The Feathers Pub in London on April Fools’ Day, The Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain has evolved into one of the largest cartoonist organisations in the world, with a membership of over 200 full- and part-time cartoonists in the UK and further afield.
Many of the great names from the British cartoon fraternity have passed through the club’s portals during the last 45 years and all have contributed something to the organisation. The club has collectively been responsible for organising many local, nationwide and international cartoon events, from exhibitions and competitions to fundraising events, demonstrating the art of the cartoon to enthusiastic youngsters at road shows and public exhibitions.
The Cartoonists’ Club also manages a permanent body of framed cartoon work, called The Cartoonists’ Exhibition. This exhibition is available for various club events, such as link-ups with other arts organisations and galleries, or as a fundraising exhibition at charity auctions.
The full range of cartoons will be posted on the Delicata winery’s Facebook page over the coming months as a regular ‘wine cartoon of the week’ feature.