Magnificent Mario

When Gerard da Cunha,Goa-based architect-turned-publisher,started collecting Mario de Mirandas diaries

When Gerard da Cunha,Goa-based architect-turned-publisher,started collecting Mario de Mirandas diaries,doodles and drawings to bring out an ambitious collection named after the famous cartoonist,little did he realise that there was enough material for many more books. I got obsessed with it and went on collecting,photographing and storing nearly 8,000 works by Mario, he says.

After the book Mario de Miranda was launched in 2008,a lot of material was unused. However,this time,da Cunha was careful about cataloguing Mirandas works under different titles and themes. The latest collection has Best Cartoons I and II,Travels,Goa and Bombayeach priced at Rs 495.

While compiling,Goa became a natural subject for da Cunha. As did Mumbai. Miranda has drawn both places extensively he brings out the quirkiness of life and charm quintessential to both coastal cities. Publishing books,however,was accidental. When nobody was ready to publish Houses of Goa in 2000,da Cunha brought it out under Architecture Autonomous. Since then,the company has published eight more books. In the latest collection,there also are pages from Mirandas diaries from the time he was 19-20 years old.

Travels contains Marios illustrations of various countries. He is an important documenter of our times. The world needs to be aware of his work, says da Cunha.

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