Political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaq, better known by his pen name of Zunar, has been picked as one of the artists-in-residence for the 2011 Art and Censorship programme to be held in Bilbao, Spain.

NONEOrganised by the prestigious art foundation BilbaoArte/Fundacion BBK, the three-month programme aims to help artists defend their rights against censorship and suppression.

"The award is not only a recognition for me as an editorial cartoonist, but also for the struggle to fight censorship and suppression of expression in Malaysia.

"It gives me a new strength to produce more cartoons that focus on corruption, waste of public money and injustices by the Malaysian government," Zunar said in a statement.

Twenty artistes from all over the world, including painters, sculptors and those practising other forms of arts, were chosen to join this year's programme and work on their projects.

On his part, Zunar has chosen Malaysian politics as his subject and will be residing in Spain from early October till the end of December this year, with his expenses met with a grant from the foundation.

Exhibition of his banned cartoons

"It is also a signal for the Malaysian government to stop all forms of intimidation, threats and the use of criminal laws to silence me and other artists because the art community around the world is watching us," he added.

Apart from the residency, Zunar will also take part in and help design the poster for the VI Festival Against Censorship, also to be held in Spain from Nov 7 to 15 this year.

The festival will feature the censored works of singers, musicians, painters, writers, film directors and authors from all over the world, including 70 of Zunar's banned editorial cartoons.

Prior to his sojourn in Spain, the artist will make an appearance at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 15 for the mention of his suit against the government and the police.

He is suing the police and the government for his unlawful arrest and detention as well as for the seizure of copies of his Cartoon-O-Phobia book and original drawings in September last year.

Zunar's latest work published by Malaysiakini, Even my pen has a stand, is currently on sale.