THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cartooning, or the art of lampooning, has always been the favourite tool of many to express their views on pressing issues. And, as part of celebrating the 100 years of Kerala cartoons, a group of cartoon enthusiasts, with the support of Sila Museum at Adoor, have started collecting rare cartoons. These works will be displayed at the cartoon exhibition organised by the All-India Malayalee Association at the national level. The expo will be organised in 26 states, at 32 locations around the country.
Speed cartoonist and former vice-chairman of Kerala Cartoon Academy, Jitheshji inaugurated the year-long programme by drawing 50 cartoons in five minutes. The first cartoon, ‘Maha kshaama devatha’, was published in the Vidhushaka Magazine in 1919. The cartoon grabbed the attention of many, thanks to its hitting message on how the food crisis came as a ‘devatha’ and was killing people through hunger.
This programme began from Thengamam in Adoor. “ We thought of starting the programme from Thengamam because cartoonist Yesudasan started a regular column with the character ‘Kittumman’ in Janayugam, which became the first pocket cartoon in Malayalam. And the editor of Janayugam then was Thengamam Balakrishnan,” said Sila Santosh, one of the members of the initiative.
The initiative will include the cartoons of film stars and other famous personalities, created by cartoonists from around the world and will be signed by them. Santhosh says, “ We have already collected more than 1,000 cartoons and more than 100 cartoon magazines from around the country.
As the first step, it will be displayed in Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Ernakulam. We are conducting the exhibition to create awareness among the new generation on the importance of these cartoons. We also want to give these cartoonists recognition.”In January, a cartoon seminar, meetup and a cartoon competition have also been planned.