Cartoon tribute to Christchurch attack victims praised on social media

A cartoon by Canberra Times artist Pat Campbell representing the 50 lives lost in the Christchurch terror attack depicted in the New Zealand “silver fern” has been praised widely on social media. (Twitter/@patcartoons)

• Having not slept well in the wake of the atrocity, Campbell got the idea while lying in bed
• The cartoon by Campbell, an award-winning artist, shows Muslims in the different stages of prayer

LONDON: A cartoon by Canberra Times artist Pat Campbell representing the 50 lives lost in the Christchurch terror attack depicted in the New Zealand “silver fern” has been praised widely on social media.
The cartoon by Campbell, an award-winning artist, shows Muslims in the different stages of prayer. His original which had 49 figures represented, published on Saturday March 16, was later updated by the artist himself to reflect the 50 lives lost.
Speaking to BuzzFeed News, he said: “I was thinking of the silver fern and thinking the pinnae (the individual bits coming off the stem) looked like figures, a similar number to the number of victims.”

When this image was drawn on Saturday morning, the death toll was 49. Since then it has risen to 50 so I have added another figure. Below is a link to a hi-rez version for those wanting to use the image for themselves or nonprofit fundraising for victimshttps://t.co/dzEsjUNTNZ pic.twitter.com/LSqFt68NMG

— Pat Campbell (@patcartoons) March 19, 2019

The artist added that he owns land just outside the city and has friends in Christchurch, which prompted him to produce the artwork.
Having not slept well in the wake of the atrocity, Campbell got the idea while lying in bed.
“There were a lot of silhouettes to draw,” Campbell said. “They just kept coming. It brought home to me the death toll and the destruction one man can do with the right weapons.”