Mario Miranda works to go on display for centenary celebrations

Panaji: On May 2 this year, Mario Miranda would have turned 100. Fourteen years after his death, the artist’s distinctive legacy continues to thrive through the efforts of friends, collectors, and admirers who are keeping his work alive through merchandise and AI models that emulate his sketches. Now, his closest friends will take this a notch higher.Collector Aristedes Alvares will showcase around 120 works from his vast personal collection at the old PWD building in Patto, which now houses the Smart City complex, on May 2. The exhibition will include a mix of caricatures, sketches, and illustrations spanning several decades of the artist’s career.Alvares said the works will also include drawings dating from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, along with illustrations that appeared in publications such as The Times of India and other publications.“The old PWD building is a beautiful location overlooking the River Mandovi. Mario’s artworks will offer visitors a rare glimpse into the artist’s life and creative journey,” he said.While he is well known for depictions of Goan life, few know that his brushstrokes also produced works which have travelled to 22 countries.Another exhibition will be curated by Shaun Lobo, whose father, Ronnie Lobo, was a close friend of Miranda for more than three decades. Lobo will present 100 rare works by the artist at Sunaparanta Centre for the Arts, Altinho, featuring rare and unseen works by Miranda. The preview is scheduled for May 8, while the exhibition will open to the public from May 10 and run until June 13.“A lot of people associate the caricature works with Mario. But the kinds of works I’m going to be exhibiting are his earlier works that many people would never have seen before,” Lobo told TOI.The collection includes works dating from 1959 to around 2000, though most of the pieces to be displayed are from between 1959 and 1975. Lobo added that he eventually hopes to take the collection to Portugal for an exhibition, possibly at the Fundacao Oriente in Lisbon.“Sunaparanta is the best space to showcase Mario’s works in Goa, but it would not be a celebration if the exhibition did not travel to Lisbon. I am therefore in talks with the heads of Fundacao Oriente Lisbon to have it there,” he said.Architect Gerard da Cunha, who also runs stores promoting the merchandise of Miranda’s works, recently opened the Mario gallery in Fontainhas and is screening a documentary on Miranda’s life. In addition, several original artworks in his collection are expected to be displayed at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi as part of the commemorative events.“Mario was known for his lively, humorous portrayals of everyday life in Goa and urban India, and he remains one of the country’s most recognisable cartoonists. Even today, his art continues to find new audiences. For many who knew him personally, however, it is the memories of the man behind the drawings that remain most vivid,” da Cunha said.