Kochi: In a first, an international exhibition of cartoons featuring 83 noted cartoonists from 30 countries is opening at Durbar Hall Arts Centre from Friday.
Organised by the Kerala Cartoon Academy in the run-up to the second edition of the national cartoon festival – ‘CariToon-2017’ which is set to take place in the city between May 4 and 8 – the exhibition, curated by veteran cartoonist T.V.G. Menon, will run through the duration of the festival.
The exhibition brings to Kochi a very rare treat of cartoons and caricatures, nearly 10% of them by women cartoonists. The participating countries span from Brazil in the West to China and Russia in the East and central Europe, with the exception of Switzerland.
Some of the most prolific contributing countries are China (10), followed by Ukraine (9), Romania (8), Iran (7), Egypt (7), and Brazil (6). Mr. Menon, a prolific online cartoonist, told The Hindu that he had written to individual cartoonists for their works for the show. “What is peculiar about cartooning in the West is that they are largely free of texts. I asked them to send works that touch upon universal issues that appeal to everyone, and some of the most significant and burning topics of the day find expression in these works,” he said. There is humour, pathos, terror, concern about a looming war, the refugee imbroglio and sports-related thoughts in the cartoons that will be on display till May 9.
The entry by a Syrian cartoonist on the plight of refugees is heart-wrenching. So is the work by Chinese cartoonist Liu Qiang which shows three children gathered around their mother who is seen slicing and sharing among them a single drop of water. Most of the cartoons on show have no text, as they are aimed at a world audience that speaks several languages. This is particularly true of the works from Central Europe. “It’s quite different from our text-heavy cartoons that we are so familiar with,” said Mr. Menon.
Caricatures of Zhu Zizun from China, and John Henson from the Philippines are eye-catching.
P. Sreeramakrishnan, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, will open the show on Friday evening.
