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New Delhi: What did
the Indian man tell his fat wife clambering up a pole for safety
in a Spanish bull ring with the beast charging at her? "Didn't I
tell not to wear the red sari?"
Humour and art can create easy understandings of cultures and
diverse geography. India and Spain on Saturday opened a humorous
cultural dialogue with a mammoth exposition of cartoons and
animation art by late noted Indian cartoonist Mario de Miranda and
Spanish pioneer Ramon Gomez de la Serna.
The showcase with more than 100 cartoons coincides with the San
Juan Day, the biggest summer party in Spain, at the Institutes de
Cervantes in the capital. It is a collaboration between Instituto
Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain, the Tourism Office of Spain and
the ABC Museum.
Mario's caricature art illustrates a unique Indo-Spanish
connection with Indian stereotypes and Spanish characters sharing
space in one frame. In 2007, the Goa-based social cartoonist and
illustration artist visited Spain. In his memoir, Mario recalls
that, "one of the most exciting things was a grand tour through
Spain, a lovely country steeped in romance and history".
"We visited some of the great cities of Spain like Madrid,
Barcelona and Seville although we could not make it to Toledo,
which I had visited in the past. It was an unforgettable
experience to travel through the French countryside dotted with
olives and orange trees, rich in art and history, with its
museums, castles, fort and famous names".
Mario's experience of Spain creeps into his body of "Spanish" art
with a section of humorous cartoons and documentary illustrations
of Spanish architecture and cultural landmarks using his trademark
layered animation technique.
The results are amazing. Mario puts Indian and Spanish musicians
together in a joint orchestra with a portly Bharatanatyam dancer
doing the Flamenco in the traditional style. Classical Hindustani
vocalists sing "Sa Re Ga..." to the horror of the Spanish audience
and a group of Indian musicians sweat over a western style Spanish
orchestra. The cartoons comment on cultural assimilation - and the
impressions Spain leaves on the Indian tourist.
The 1931 doodle drawings of Ramon Gomez De La, a friend of poet
Octavio Paz and one of the country's celebrated artists, are
simple, meditative and minimal in comparison to Mario's.
Ramon's sketches were reflections of a new Spanish world
influenced by European vanguards and fractured by the imminent
civil war. His cartoons ferreted out the contradictions of modern
life with swift wit.
Inaugurating the exposition, political cartoonist Ajit Ninan said:
"Cartoonists like Laxman and Mario stole the entire cartoon space
in India. Mario was an intricately detailed cartoonist - and we
are a land of details."
He said Mario had the advantage of being a social, political and
international cartoonist. "He was the master of architectural
layers," Ninan said.
Comparing history in the tradition of cartooning in India and the
Latin American world, Ninan told IANS, "We are totally controlled
by the English and American style of cartoons but the richest
cartoons come from Latin America because they have no language.
They are silent powerful illustrations." He said the natural
talent of Indian cartoonists was drawing brisk animation trade to
India.
The Institutes de Cervantes is talking to the Indian Council for
Cultural Relations to carry showcase to Kolkata, Mumbai and other
cities of the country.
"This is not a flash in the pan. Spain has declared India as one
of its top foreign policy priorities. The king of Spain might come
to India at the end of the year," a spokesperson for the Embassy
of Spain said.
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