An exhibition in the memory of cartoon Anirban Bora

Anirban Bora could never pass a stationery shop without stepping in to buy art material. Just as he couldn’t visit a city without exploring its food. Art, cartoon, illustrator, and witty observer of ordinary life, Bora passed away of COVID on May 1 last year. He had worked with leading publications such as The Indian Express and The Economic Times in Delhi. His wealth of art is an abiding legacy.

On May 7, Bengaluru’s prestigious Indian Institute of Cartoons will open an exhibition of Bora’s works, to be inaugurated CS Krishna Shetty, Former Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. The exhibition is titled, ‘The World of Anirban Bora’.
Anirban Bora’s Panipuri Vendor (Express Archives)
“I consider him at par with legendary cartoons such as Miranda and Prabhakar Raobail. Bora had created his unique style and his characters were different from that of other cartoons. I was a fan of his cartoons, especially the column on food called Indica Gastronomica, which used to appear in The Economic Times. Many people like me used to cut that page and preserve it,” says VG Narendra, Managing Trustee, Indian Institute of Cartoons.
Anirban Bora’s Mamata (Express Archives)
Among the 90 exhibits, are 12 caricatures, 10 food-themed works, and other cartoons and sketches. The works show Bora’s eye for detail, style, and humour. There’s one, under his ‘Borialis’ series, of an unmasked man happily pedalling on a cycle with coronavirus-shaped wheels. From the same series is a comment on Indian television media covering a crisis— a flood in Kolkata — and another of a packed bus at rush hour that yet another passenger wants to board. The city of his birth, Kolkata, figures as a constant muse.

Anirban Bora’s Gandhi (Express Archives)
The Indian Institute of Cartoons, which has exhibited a number of eminent cartoons, had been Bora’s choice of the gallery for an exhibition of his works. “We were in touch regularly,” says Narendra. The show is a culmination of that plan.
The exhibition will be held from May 7 to 28 at the Indian Institute of Cartoons, Bengaluru
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