Thank you for the comment. Martin Pitt confirmed that the new Ubuntu package revision fixes the issue, marking as fixed
** Changed in: libcairo (Ubuntu) Status: Needs Info => Fix Released -- [edgy] GTK-based apps crash when run through ssh tunnel between powerpc and i386 machines https://launchpad.net/bugs/62810 -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs