Experience the daily life, culture and architecture of Spain right in the City! Intricate and humorous cartoons by Mario de Miranda, who died last year, is being presented by Instituto Cervantes. His work is on display along with select sketches by Spanish writer and poet Ramon Gomez de la Serna.
Ramon, like Miranda, was a sharp and witty observer of life and society – at a time when Spain was going through tough times financially in the 19th century.
The exhibition Ironic Visions of Daily Life transports the visitors to Spain with cartoons on landscapes, restaurants and monuments of Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo and Andalusia. Miranda had travelled to these cities and promoted Spanish culture in his cartoons.
Besides cartooning, Miranda’s murals can be seen in his native Goa, and other parts of India. Later, he took to paintings which also had received an overwhelming response.
Director of Instituto Cervantes Oscar Pujol says, “Mario needs no introduction. He combined humour with metaphor.” Cartoons at the exhibition present the basic idiosyncracies of being Indians - be they depicted through fat wives or opportunistic politicians. For instance, in one of the cartoons on display, an Indian politician clad in kurta-pyjamas and topi is giving speech in Spain standing on a soap box, while the locals are standing around looking rather amused.
Then there is one of an Indian woman who has scrambled up a pole in Spain after being chased by a bull, while her husband wryly comments, ‘I had warned you about wearing a red saree at a Spanish bullfight’. These and more will definitely make you burst into laughter.
Political cartoonist Ajit Ninan, who had met Miranda on quite a few occasions says, “Intricacies abound in Indian temples, monuments and the national bird peacock. The same intricate work can be seen in Mario’s work. He brought out detailing in his cartoons. Today’s cartoonists are nowhere close to that.”
The exhibition also gives you glimpse of Miranda’s sketches of places and monuments of Spain such as Plaza Cervantes, White City, Plasa de Espana, Antoni Gaudi, Sagrada Familia and Casa de Pilatos. In each, every subject - from people to even a brick is as alive as in the real monument. The exhibition is a must visit from an Indian’s point of view.
The exhibition remains open till August 19, 11 am - 7 pm.