JOIN USIn fond remembrance of the late artist Maya Kamath, the sixth edition of the ‘Maya Kamath Memorial Awards’ was held at the Indian Institute of Cartoonists recently.
The event showcased a variety of work done by different cartoonists, depicting a few basic themes of the present-day situations in many countries. The artists were from countries such as Bulgaria, Turkey, Brazil, China, Poland and Serbia to name a few. Earlier limiting themselves to only Indian cartoons for exhibitions and competitions, the place started welcoming foreign cartoons last year and received 16 of them. This year, it received a 100 from all over the world including India. Out of these, the best 72 were selected. The event had 35 foreign cartoonists as participants.
Nalentin Georgiv from Bulgaria won the best foreign cartoon and received a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Other cartoons that achieved the Certificate of Merit were the ones by Oquz Gurel from Turkey, Jovan Prokopijevic from Serbia and Constantin Pavel from Romania. Rohit Padma bagged the best budding cartoonist.
The jury for selecting the best out of the many cartoons consisted of noted playwright and actor Girish Karnad, well-known artist SG Vasudev and senior cartoonist BG Gujjarappa. They felt the entries were of high order and that the foreign entries were outstanding in draftsmanship, ideas and composition. “We felt that many Indian cartoonists do not have the same craftsmanship and can learn from many of the foreign entrants”, they said.
The jury admitted that it was difficult to select a few for the awards. Most of the works were based on social and political genre. This was also the 98th cartoon exhibition of the cartoon gallery. Visitors felt that the exhibition was a real treat to the eyes. “This is one place where we can see the talent of not just Indians but also the artists from abroad,” they said. The exhibition will be open to the public till May 17, from 10 am to 6 pm.