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Gianfranco Uber

Gianfranco Uber

Retired from his professional activity in banking IT in 2003, he returned for pleasure to his youthful passion for humorous drawing, which he never forgot. Since 2007, he has commented daily on world events on his blog https://gianfrancouberblog.blogspot.com/\

His blog cartoons were regularly picked up by Panorama online until 2011, even though they were generally very critical of the government at the time, and this was a just recognition of respect for freedom of information. Winner of the first prize in the 2013 A Cartoon for Europe Competition. He had his own space “LA VIGNETTA DI UBER” in the IAI magazine “Affari Internazionali” at this link until 2023 https://www.affarinternazionali.it/category/la-vignetta-di-uber/ . He is a member of the Scientific Committee of Librexpression and publishes on the specific body Pagina21 https://www.pagina21.eu/uber-149/libex/ "

The interview

By Eraldo Mussa
1 - A memory of Salone and Bordighera

Young, very shy, he used to take a return train from Genoa to see his cartoon displayed next to those of many well-known authors without having the courage to be recognized.

2- What did you like the most about Salone

Later, I discovered that there was nothing that could justify my shyness and my fear as an amateur in meeting people I considered "monsters" like Jacovitti and discovering how much availability there was in them. All this in the festive and international atmosphere of the years of the economic boom.

3 - What is it the humour for you?

A nice way to suggest some different points of view, and to not always take everything so seriously even if sometimes it is necessary.

4 - Your life as a humorist, if you look back what cartoon do you see?

In reality I soon had to abandon the idea of ​​"a life as a comedian" to dedicate myself to the search for a more profitable occupation while still maintaining my passion for drawing and satire, often exploited to make work more enjoyable.

Once I stopped my professional activity, however, I tried to see if I had some humor left by participating in the many and different children and grandchildren competitions of the old "Bordighera". Some, even with great satisfaction, allowed me to return to a circle that in some cases I also find a little too closed.

Looking back much further, I remember with great pleasure the one with which I had commented on the heroic "Lavoro" the opening of the Olympic games in Moscow at the same time as the invasion of Prague.

5 - Were you born humorists or did you become such?

I think you are born with it, I think you need some genes, like the one for music. Essential for me is the creative spirit independent from the graphic ability that however even if innate can be partly acquired and refined.

6 - Risk or caution, what has characterised your professional life the most?

Certainly prudence, and perhaps it was a mistake, but now it's late and, prudently, I wouldn't want to go back...

7 - One of your cartoons that you'd like to dedicate today to the Salone, why?

This one, the one that, to my great surprise and pleasure, won the International Prize for Europe in 2013 and that gave me the desire to continue. It is entitled "YOUR HEAD PLEASE" and it referred to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to a European Union that unfortunately, even today, is unable to be united.

8 - The poster of Salone you like the most, why?

Difficult choice, I really like the one from the 22nd Salone. I remember with pleasure the fixed theme of that edition, I had participated by experimenting with a compromise technique between my passion for drawing and office work and I had used all the stamps I could find to represent the desire to escape from the daily routine that the conquest of the Moon inspired.

9 - Humor today: its state of health. And behind the curve what do you expect?

Health status: Precarious. 

Behind the curve: many dangers such as bad taste, banality, AI, but also many talented young people waiting.

The drawings

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The works are the intellectual property of the authors, protected by copyright, and are exhibited on the site for the sole purpose of preserving the cultural heritage of the "Salone”.


Salone Internazionale dell'Umorismo

The event could not have lasted for over fifty years without the contribution of numerous "volunteers" and "precepts" who brought enthusiasm and desire to do whatever the task received, with nineteenth-century shifts! From the choice of the drawings, to the preparation of the panels (always the same every year), to the posting with various pins of the hundreds of drawings up to the presence on stage.

We therefore want to thank, in absolutely no order but with equal contributions, all those who come to mind, apologizing if we miss some, but we are ready to fix it!

Sponsors: Agnesi, Olio Calvi, Olio Carli, Pallanca, Martini & Rossi, Atkinsons, Seat - Pagine Gialle, Fiat, Citizen, La Stampa, Radio Montecarlo, etc.

The accommodation activities, Chez Louis, Bar GP, La Vecchia, Mino du Re Dolceacqua, Terme di Pigna, Ristorante Cacciatori Imperia, Hotel Michelin,

Presenters: Luisella Berrino, Cesare Viazzi, Roberto Basso (Rama di Palma d'Oro 1985)

The employees of the Autonomous Tourist Board and of the Municipality of Bordighera