Pacific Leaders and their Underpants

Nick Hilditch has quite a talent – he’s a cartoonist based in Bristol who produces the brilliant World Leaders in Their Underpants series. I’ve been following his work for a while now and he finally managed to do our very own the Rt Hon Peter O’Neill CMG.

Below is an excerpt from his website:

World leaders in Their Underpants is the directory aspiring politicians cannot afford to be without; a handy compendium of heads of state, unguarded in their undergarments. Far from being a childish work of lurid spectacle, it’s a revealing study of the relationship between power and vulnerability in the 21st Century.

From G8 leaders, parading around snug in the security of their tighty-whities, to less well known power-holders from some of the globe’s smallest nations, stepping forward timidly in their uncertain briefs. Pompous monarchs, barmy tyrants, humble elected statesmen and women of every hue, all lovingly illustrated in full colour by Nick Hilditch.

The national bird of Papua New Guinea is the Raggiana Bird-of-paradise, seen here adorning the arm of prime minister Peter O’Neill, who is, of course, in is underpants. O’Neill’s first act as prime minister was to establish a new national holiday, named Repentance Day. Many Papua New Guineans expressed confusion over the exact purpose of the day, as on the one hand, it’s a day off work, on the other it must be spent expressing sincere regret.

Confusion is commonplace in Papua New Guinea, a nation occupying half of the world’s second largest island, alongside Indonesia. It plays host to over 700 native tongues, but with a population just short of 7 million, that leaves over 6.8 million natives with no tongue at all. Presumably they communicate by sharing tongues, a tiresome activity, with a single day off a year on which to regret this sorry set of circumstances.

Former businessman, Peter O’Neill now joins World Leaders in Their Underpants where his many fellow heads of state will be keen to meet his splendid feathery mascot:

I’m not sure about the blue underpants though – I thought a dash of red and black would have been quite nice? Despite this, I think our PM looks much more forthcoming than the former President of Fiji, Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Nailatikau:

Even Hilditch’s impression of the good old Ratu beats that of the Prime Minister of Australia:

To view a complete map of locations of World Leaders in Their Underpants click on the link provided.

~ by Tavurvur on November 21, 2011.