Bengaluru’s Indian Cartoon Gallery and its role in documenting this art form

As the Indian Cartoon Gallery enters into its 20th year, a look at how it began and its workings

“Bengaluru is famous for many firsts — Asia’s first streetlights as well as the country’s first traffic light were installed here, our first Nobel Prize winner CV Raman made this city his home. And now, it houses India’s first cartoon gallery,” says VG Narendra, founder and managing trustee of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists (IIC).

Situated in Midford Garden, off MG Road, the story of the Indian Cartoon Gallery begins with IIC, which was established in 2001. Narendra realised he had built an amazing network of cartoonists in India and abroad during his stint as cartoonist for major Indian newspapers and as president of the Karnataka Cartoonists Association.

It had seen him rub shoulders with some of the leading Indian cartoonists of the day such as Shankar (K Shankar Pillai), RK Laxman, Mario Miranda and others. “I had often rued the lack of an institution along the lines of Lalit Kala or Chitrakala to promote the art of cartooning. I realised I could get started with the contacts I had made over the past years.”

Together with Mario who was a dear friend, Narendra began approaching cartoonists and recalls how they were quite supportive of the endeavour. “Everyone was eager to come on board. VS Ramadevi, the then-Governor of Karnataka, enthusiastically agreed to inaugurate the Institute,” he says, adding how the two-day function saw the participation of over a 100 cartoonists from all over India.

VG Narendra (left) and Mario Miranda (centre) at the India Cartoon Gallery | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Entrepreneur Ashok Kheny, an ardent lover of this art form, provided the Institute with space and in 2007, the Indian Cartoon Gallery was inaugurated by then Governor of Karnataka TN Chaturvedi. Spread over 2,000 sqft in the heart of Bengaluru, the gallery boasts a conference room, library and other amenities. “It is now a hub of activity for cartoonists and cartoon lovers,” says Narendra.