Take a peek into the world of celebrated cartoonist Mario Miranda

Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts, Altinho, Panjim, is hosting Growing Up in Mário’s World, a special exhibition celebrating the centenary of Mario de Miranda, one of India’s most beloved cartoonists and visual storytellers.

For generations of readers, Miranda’s work has offered a world that is at once playful, observant, and deeply familiar. With humour, warmth, and extraordinary detail, he captured the texture of everyday life, its quirks, chaos, charm, and quiet humanity. His drawings did more than entertain; they shaped the way people saw Goa, Bombay, and modern Indian life itself.

Through newspapers, magazines, books, and commercial commissions, Miranda created a visual language that was instantly recognisable and widely loved. His depictions of Goan village life, bustling Bombay chawls, crowded cafés, family homes, and social encounters were affectionate, vivid, and full of life. In doing so, he helped create an enduring public image of Goa, one rooted in memory, intimacy, and observation.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Growing Up in Mário’s World brings together works from across Miranda’s remarkable career. The exhibition includes early sketches and illustrations from his time in Europe in the 1950s, magazine work from the 1960s and 1970s for publications such as The Illustrated Weekly of India, Femina, and Filmfare, as well as later illustrations for books, book covers, and commercial campaigns, including work created for brands such as Shalimar Paints.

Drawn from the collection of Shaun Nicholas Lobo, the works feature a rich selection of archival material, published pages, letters to family, friends, and patrons, and printed ephemera that offer a more intimate glimpse into the artist’s life and world. Together, these materials reveal both the personal and public dimensions of Miranda’s practice, tracing his journey across decades of artistic production while returning again and again to the people and places that shaped his imagination.

Growing Up with Mário, an anthology of essays accompanying works of Mario de Miranda will be released during the exhibition preview on 8 May 2026. The evening will also feature a special performance by Orlando de Noronha and Siddharth Cota on violin, mandolin, and guitar, performing music from across the globe.

'Growing Up in Mário's World', celebrating the birth centenary of Mario de Miranda (1926-2026) will be open to the public from 9 May to 13 June 2026 (Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 6.30 pm) at Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts, Altinho, Panjim