The R. K. Laxman Museum is a single-artist museum located in Balewadi area of Pune, Maharashtra. It is dedicated to the life and works of R. K. Laxman, one of India's most popular cartoonist and illustrator. The Government of Maharashtra and the Pune Municipal Corporation collaborated to create this museum which was inaugurated on 6 March 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[1][2][3] This international award winning structure designed by UNITECTURE, a consultancy firm lead by Architect DhairyaSheel Ramesh Powar
In career spanning more than 70 years, Laxman created over 35,000 cartoons and illustrations. After he died on 26 January 2015, his daughter Usha undertook the task of compiling the works for the purpose of creating the museum. The idea came to fruition when the state government and the local municipal body joined in. The architecture of the museum was executed by design consultancy firm Unitecture. The work had begun in 2015 and handed over to Laxman family in 2018 to design the art galleries. However, it was delayed by over 8 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, the museum was inaugurated in 2022.[4][5]
Galleries and exhibits
The layout of the museum consists of several galleries, a cafeteria, two audio-visual rooms, and exhibition halls. A huge life-size portrait of Laxman's The Common Man, his most famous creation, greets the visitors and the tourists. The entire life story of Laxman is narrated by the Common Man, who takes the visitors through a mixed-media journey, telling them the story of the man who created him. In the welcome note to the museum, the Common Man, says: “A grand welcome to the R. K. Laxman Museum. I am your host and I will give you a visual experience of this museum and tell you the story of the man you created me.”[6]
The gallery showing Laxman's life has a portion that depicts his childhood spent with his elder brother, R. K. Narayan, the creator of Malgudi Days, and a prominent figure of modern Indian English writing. Laxman had in fact begun his career by illustrating Narayan's books.[6][7]
In the caricature section of the photo gallery, Laxman's caricature sketches of famous personalities are showcased. A particular section also shows Laxman's depictions of the elephant-headed god, Ganesha in various forms, while another space of the gallery is dedicated to his cartoons on children. The outdoor galleries show his cartoons about the Mumbai administration, and some of The Common Man sketches. Textual panels on the walls, and audio-visual frames guide the visitors through the museum.[6]
Statue of Common Man at the entrance of R K Laxman MuseumA gallery inside R K Laxman Museum
Two different shows, one a documentary on Laxman's life, and another a light-and-sound show on Malgudi days, take place in the two dedicated audio-visual rooms within the museum. The light-and-sound brings to life the town of Malgudi, that Narayan had fictitiously created.[6][8]
A dedicated gallery space deals with the crow, Laxman's favourite bird. The gallery houses the various sketches of the bird made by the cartoonist, as well as models of the birds busy in different activities. Laxman was fond of them as he found them energetic, naughty and intelligent. He could even distinguish one from the other, and had different names for them.[6]
His last cartoon made on 20 December 2014 for the occasion of India's Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalayan's completion of hundred days on the Martian orbit is housed in the audio-visual gallery. It shows the Common Man travelling towards the red planet with a national flag in his hand. His son Arun, employed at ISRO, is referred to in the note along with the cartoon.[9][10][11]
Today, Laxman's grand daughter Rimanika carries her grandfather's legacy forward. She has created the Common Woman, presenting a gendered version of the societal caricature that Laxman's immortal cartoon featured.
The architectural design of the building displays the character of great cartoonist R. K. Laxman in an abstract and minimal way. The structure is designed as three layer skin system to avoid sun glare and making outer passages as thermal barrier for inner exhibition area. The outer area is actually covered by concrete sandwich panels. Those panels have replicas of R K Laxman's popular cartoons. The cartoons are wrapped around fins with overlapping of areas creating a effect of a static flipbook. The user feels like these caricatures interact with audience while passing by the structure on its pathway with various angles, speed and motion. On the arrival, one has to go around the column on which a statue of popular character by R K Laxman is placed as a tribute to legendary cartoonist. The use of conventional materials has been in unconventional way. The team UNITECTURE has received a few national and international awards for their innovative design of this structure.
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images intended for satire, caricature, or humor; or a motion picture that relies on a sequence of illustrations for its animation. Someone who creates cartoons in the first sense is called a cartoonist, and in the second sense they are usually called an animator.
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanaswami, better known as R. K. Narayan, was an Indian writer and novelist known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current affairs in a national or international context. Political cartoonists generally adopt a caricaturist style of drawing, to capture the likeness of a politician or subject. They may also employ humor or satire to ridicule an individual or group, emphasize their point of view or comment on a particular event.
Malgudi is a fictional town located in Agumbe situated in the Shivamogga district of the Indian state of Karnataka in the novels and short stories of R. K. Narayan. It forms the setting for most of Narayan's works. Starting with his first novel, Swami and Friends, all but one of his fifteen novels and most of his short stories take place here. Malgudi was a portmanteau of two Bengaluru localities - Malleshwara and Basavana Gudi.
Swami and Friends is a 1935 novel by R. K. Narayan, marking his debut as an English-language novelist from India. It is the first book in a trilogy set in the fictional town of Malgudi during British India. The novel is followed by The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher, completing the trilogy.
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He was best known for his creation The Common Man and for his daily cartoon strip, You Said It in The Times of India, which started in 1951.
The Common Man is a cartoon character created by Indian author and cartoonist R. K. Laxman. For over a half of a century, the Common Man has represented the hopes, aspirations, troubles and perhaps even foibles of the average Indian, through a daily comic strip, You Said It in The Times of India. The comic was started in 1951.
The Cartoon Museum is a London museum for British cartoons, caricatures and comic strips, owned and operated by the Cartoon Art Trust. It has a library of over 5,000 books and 4,000 comics. The museum issues catalogues and features a changing display of over 250 exhibits from its collection of over 4,000 original cartoons and prints. The museum is "dedicated to preserving the best of British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation, and to establishing a museum with a gallery, archives and innovative exhibitions to make the creativity of cartoon art past and present, accessible to all for the purposes of education, research and enjoyment.".
Ekanath Padmanabhan Unny is an Indian political cartoonist.
Mysore is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is known as the cultural capital of Karnataka. Mysore was the capital of the Wodeyar kings who ruled over the Mysore Kingdom for many centuries. Wodeyars were great patrons of art and music and have contributed significantly to make Mysore a cultural centre. Mysore is well known for its palaces, museums and art galleries and the festivities that take place here during the period of Dasara attract a worldwide audience. Mysore has also lent its name to popular dishes like Mysore Masala Dosa and Mysore Pak. Mysore is also the origin of the popular silk sari known as Mysore silk sari and has also given rise to a popular form of painting known as Mysore painting.
Symbiosis International (Deemed University), is a multi-campus private, deemed university located in the city of Pune, India. The university is located in various campuses in Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nashik, Noida, Nagpur etc.
Shivram Dattatreya Phadnis, known as S. D. Phadnis, is an Indian cartoonist and illustrator. He is known for his captionless and painted cartoons, which mainly featured on magazine covers. The illustrations created by Phadnis for Mohini magazine established a new tradition of Marathi magazine covers. It proved that cartoons can be as charming and visually pleasing as a painting without the support of words. With a career spanning more than 60 years, he has contributed to the Marathi publishing industry and cartooning community as a whole. As of April 2023, he lives and works in Pune.
Malgudi Days is an Indian television series that premiered in 1986. Initially produced in both English and Hindi, the show is based on R. K. Narayan’s 1943 short story collection of the same name. Directed by Kannada actor and director Shankar Nag, The series was Produced by T.S. Narasimhan, with music composed by L. Vaidyanathan. Renowned cartoonist R. K. Laxman, Narayan's younger brother, contributed as the sketch artist. the series was revived in 2006 with 15 new episodes directed by Kavitha Lankesh.
Indian Thought Publications is a publisher founded in 1942, in Mysore by R. K. Narayan. Narayan founded the company as he was cut off from England owing to the war and needed an outlet for his works. The first book to be published by the company was Malgudi Days, in 1943. The publishing company followed a short-lived journal that he founded, of the same name. The company is currently managed from a tiny home-office in Chennai by Narayan's granddaughter Bhuvaneswari (Minnie).
Miss Malini is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language satirical film written and directed by Kothamangalam Subbu and produced by K. Ramnoth, based on a story by R. K. Narayan. Subbu also starred in the film alongside Pushpavalli and M. S. Sundari Bai. Javar Seetharaman and Gemini Ganesan made their acting debuts in the film appearing in minor supporting roles. The film focuses on Malini (Pushpavalli), an impoverished woman who joins her actress friend Sundari's theatre company Kala Mandhiram and becomes a success. Things take a turn for the worse when she befriends a charlatan named Sampath.
The Indian Institute of Cartoonists (IIC) is an organisation based in Bangalore that serves to promote and preserve cartooning and cartoonists in India. Founded in 2001, the institute hosts the Indian Cartoon Gallery with rotating exhibits focusing on different artists. It has organised more than one hundred exhibitions of cartoons.
Wagle Ki Duniya is an Indian sitcom that aired on DD National from 1988 to 1990. It was produced by Durga Khote, directed by Kundan Shah, and was based on characters created by noted cartoonist, R. K. Laxman, especially "the common man" about the issues of common middle-class Indian man. It starred Anjan Srivastav as a bumbling sales clerk in a multinational and Bharati Achrekar as his wife.
Thomas Samuel (1925–2012), a.k.a. T. Samuel or Samuval, was a cartoonist from Kerala who published under the name 'Samuel'. He is considered to be the father of box or pocket cartoons in India.
Chamarajapuram is one of the earliest settlements and localities in Mysore, Karnataka, India, located in the centre of the city. Initially an agraharam inhabited by the Mysore nobility, parts of it were later allotted other local dwellers as well.
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