With a dose of satire, humour and creativity, the art of cartooning can be an "eye-opener" to the socio-political status of any society as well as great fun for the connoisseurs.

With that idea in mind, the Indian Cartoon Gallery in Bangalore inaugurated a special exhibition to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists on Wednesday. 

The exhibition will continue till July 18. 

Inaugurating the exhibition, playwright and Jnanpith Award winner Girish Karnad said: "The health of a political system is measured by the kind of cartoons it produces."

"More exhibitions and road shows on cartoons will bring the art form closer to the connoisseurs and will help enhance the popularity of cartoon as an art form," added Karnad. 

The exhibition consists of 70 cartoons in English and other regional languages by 41 cartoonists from various parts of India. 

All the cartoons are part of Maya Kamath Memorial Awards for Excellence. 

Kamath was one of India's leading cartoonists whose vast work has been featured in several newspapers, journals and magazines. 

She was mostly known for her popular cartoon series "The World of Maya". She died fighting cancer at the age of 50 in 2001. 

Most of the cartoons exhibited at the gallery have stark political tones and touch upon issues like dynastic politics, terrorism, communalism and recession. 

"The art of cartoon is quite a provocative medium and if used in the right direction can bring several changes. Cartoon, with its humour and satire, easily catches the imagination of the connoisseurs. Moreover, through cartoons, several social issues of importance can be raised for the greater good of society," V.G. Narendra, managing trustee of the institute said.

"The idea behind the exhibition was to encourage and provide an incentive to cartoonists in the country," he added. 

Winners of the Maya Kamath Memorial Awards for Excellence were also announced on Wednesday. 

The first three award-winning cartoons selected are of Sandeep Adhwarya of Outlook magazine, Ramdhyani of Navika daily and Shankar Pamarthy of Sakshi newspaper, respectively. 

A special prize was given to Mohammad Zahoor from Pakistan who submitted a cartoon of a Barack Obama speech. 

Mujeeb Patwa, an aerospace engineer with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) also won the best Budding Cartoonist Award. 

"More and more innovation and experimentation is needed in the world of cartoon. We have to deal with serious issues with great maturity," said Nandan Kamath, a relative of noted cartoonist Maya of the city.

“The art of cartooning can be beautifully used to portray social and political changes in the society," he added. 

A frequent visitor to the gallery, Ravi Kumar said art of cartooning had always fascinated him.

"The exhibition is a well-curated one, and I had great fun enjoying the cartoons," said Ravi.

Echoing Ravi, Pallavi Shastri said: "Cartoons present both humour and reality in good amount and I find all the art works in the gallery very amazing."