In many countries cartoons are not only a medium that provokes laughter and amusement, graphic designs by the most creative cartoonists, can also expose injustice, especially in countries where words are censored.

To illustrate the importance of cartoons as a medium of free expression, 100 works by 18 of the world’s finest cartoonists will be on display in Geneva (June 10-July 10) before going on to Paris and Brussels.

The poster size cartoons will be displayed along the Quai Wilson against a backdrop of city, lake and mountains under the sponsorship of the City of Geneva. The Cartooning for Peace Foundation, organized by a Swiss NGO, brought five cartoonists to the public opening, including No-Rio of Japan, Khalid Gueddar of Morocco, Lassane Zohoré of Ivory Coast and Kianouch Ramezani of Iran, now living in exile in Paris.

Artistic director, noted Swiss cartoonist Patrick Chappatte, whose works appear in the International Herald Tribune and leading Swiss papers, grouped the posters according to five themes: human rights, north-south threats, climate change, censorship and armed conflict.

“These cartoons possess a large dose of impertinence and audacity”, Chappatte said, explaining that most do not require explanatory captions. “Our challenge was to show those drawings that speak directly to the public.”

The Foundation and the City of Geneva will award a “Cartoons for Peace” prize in the spring of 2012 for exceptional work in the areas of human rights and freedom of expression with special consideration to cartoons published in the context of political repression.