About Arifur Rahman
From a self-taught young artist in rural Bangladesh to an award-winning Norwegian cartoonist and the founder of a global publishing platform, ARiF has spent more than three decades making difficult realities visible.
The story
A creative life shaped by curiosity, courage, and the conviction that artists need room to speak freely.
Born Arifur Rahman in Tetiar Kanda, Bangladesh, ARiF began drawing in 1991 and making comics by 1995. His first published cartoon appeared in Bichhu in 2004. Soon, work signed simply “Arif” was appearing across major Bangladeshi newspapers, while anti-corruption cartoons earned early national prizes.
In September 2007, a cartoon published in Alpin provoked national controversy. ARiF was arrested and spent six months and two days in prison. Threats and blacklisting followed his release. The experience sharpened the purpose of his work: independent publishing, humour under pressure, and every artist’s right to speak in their own voice.
In 2009, ARiF founded Toons Mag, a platform first imagined in prison. With support from ICORN and Norwegian PEN, he relocated to Norway in 2010 and rebuilt his practice through visual arts, 3D, and animation studies. Today his work spans editorial illustration, animation, painting, comics, publishing, and exhibitions that connect artists across Europe and Asia.
“Draw what needs drawing.”
Key moments
Begins teaching himself to draw in Bangladesh.
Drawing becomes a daily practice and a way of making sense of the world.
A first cartoon appears in Bichhu, the satirical magazine of Daily Jugantor, a Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh.
Arrested after a cartoon published in Alpin; released after six months and two days in prison.
A publishing platform created to give cartoonists a place to share their work freely.
Granted political asylum and begins rebuilding a creative practice in Norway.
Toons Mag receives Deutsche Welle’s The BOBs — Best of Online Activism.
In public conversation
From talks and cultural events to conversations about freedom of expression, the work continues wherever people gather to exchange ideas.
Awards & honours
Tegnerforbundet, Norway.
Deutsche Welle’s The BOBs award for Toons Mag Bangla, Germany.
For TRY, Bangladesh.
Anti-Corruption Cartoon Contest, Transparency International Bangladesh.
Anti-Corruption Cartoon Contest, Star Inside, The Daily Star, Bangladesh.
Alpin Pin Hunt Cartoon Contest, Prothom Alo, Bangladesh.
Anti-Corruption Cartoon Competition, Transparency International Bangladesh.
The reason Toons Mag exists at all. No brief is worth compromising the point of the work.
A cartoon or illustration earns attention by being well made, not loud.
Twenty years across two continents and dozens of cultural contexts shape every brief.
Toons Mag has spent over a decade making space for other people's work, not just his own.