Humour for a cause – cartoons and creativity on display at the ‘Witty World’ exhibition

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 570 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

One of the cultural treasures of Bengaluru is the Indian Cartoon Gallery (ICG), tucked away in a lane off MG Road at Trinity Circle. See our earlier photo essays on the gallery’s exhibitions from 2015 onwards here.

VG Narendra, gallery manager and curator, is also Managing Trustee of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists (IIC). A cartoonist himself, he trained under Shankar Pillai, who was the Founder of Shankar’s Weekly and is often regarded as the father of political cartooning in India.

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The gallery recently hosted an exhibition of the outstanding cartoons of Austrian cartoonist, Klaus Pitter. Titled Witty World, it featured over 90 of his collected works over the years.

“For many years, Klaus has been contributing cartoons to our annual Maya Kamath Cartoon Competition,” explains VG Narendra, in a chat with YourStory. Klaus has participated under the ‘Foreign Cartoonists’ category.

“The cartoons are straightforward, humourous, and pack powerful messages,” Narendra adds.

Many of them do not even have captions, and are still easy to understand for international audiences. They convey messages about environmental conservation, stress of modern life, and the harsh realities of migration.

Born in 1947, Klaus Pitter studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and holds a master's degree in graphic design. His cartoons have been published in a number of magazines and newspapers, and in comic book form as well.

Klaus was also responsible for the graphic design of the children’s magazine Wunderwelt. His works have been exhibited around the world, in Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, Korea, Iran, Japan, and India.

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Klaus is a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Styria, Austria. He has held a number of comic workshops internationally as well. He has won awards and prizes at international cartoon competitions in Brazil, Argentina, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Serbia, Turkey, Romania, and Belgium.

“His cartoons were well received in Bengaluru, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed his creative works,” Narendra describes.

“Cartoons help us, especially in these tough times of the pandemic, by putting a smile on our face. Cartoons also make us laugh at our circumstances and actions – and laugh at ourselves too,” Narendra signs off.

Now, what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and find new avenues for your creative core?

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