Ramón Esono Ebalé
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Ramón Nse Esono Ebalé (born 22 November 1977) is an
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...
n illustrator and
comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
artist. He draws under the pseudonym Jamón y Queso ("Ham and Cheese" in Spanish). Ebalé was born in
Micomeseng Micomeseng is a city in Equatorial Guinea. It is located in the province of Kié-Ntem and has a (2005 est.) population of 5,813. Populated places in Kié-Ntem {{EquatorialGuinea-geo-stub ...
in northern Equatorial Guinea. Mostly self-taught, he also received drawing instruction at
Centro cultural de España en Malabo Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...
. He has received awards such as the ''Regarde 9'' at the
Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; ) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occur ...
and from magazine ''Africa and Mediterranean'' at
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
. On the internet, Ebalé worked for the
webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...
''Las Locuras de Jamón y Queso''. He worked on the movie '' Un día vi 10.000 elefantes'' and has been exhibited in Paraguay and El Salvador. In addition to a career as a commercial artist, Ebalé focuses on the deep inequality of Equatorial Guinea and on Teodoro Obiang, dictator since 1979. Ebalé relocated to Paraguay in 2011. Though his crass style alienated many of his collaborators, he continued to work with a small group of dissidents opposing the government and Obiang. In 2014, with dialogue written by an anonymous collaborator in Malabo, Ebalé drew the graphic novel ''La pesadilla de Obi'' (''Obi's Nightmare''). It was funded by the
Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
EGJustice. The book is described as "a satirical day-in-the-life that imagines what it would be like for Obiang himself, accustomed to unbridled control of his country’s economy, to wake up as an unemployed, witless husband in one of Malabo’s dreary slums." Lacking opportunities for legal distribution within Equatorial Guinea, the Spanish edition of book was distributed by individuals in secret. In September 2017, Ebalé was arrested in
Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approxim ...
and imprisoned at the notorious
Black Beach Black Beach (), located on the island of Bioko, in the capital city of Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, is one of Africa's most notorious prisons. History The prison was built in the 1940s during the time of the Spanish colonial rule. At first, co ...
prison. He was released in March 2018 after a police officer admitted to falsely accusing him based on orders from his superiors. In November 2017,
Cartoonists Rights Network, International Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) is a non-profit organisation created in 1999 in the United States by Dr. Robert "Bro" Russell. It looks to protect the human rights and creative freedom of social and editorial cartoonists An edit ...
gave Ebalé its ''Courage in Editorial Cartooning'' annual award, to draw attention to his imprisonment.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebale, Ramon Esono 1977 births Living people Equatoguinean activists Equatoguinean artists Comics artists People from Kié-Ntem