Monthly satirical magazine Unmad is paying tribute to renowned American humour magazine Mad through a three-day cartoon exhibition under way at Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi. Mad, styled MAD, was founded in 1952. It was widely reported on July 3, 2019, that Mad would no longer be sold on newsstands by the end of the year, additionally, outside of end-of-year review issues, any new issues will feature previously released content with a new cover.
The three-day cartoon exhibition titled ‘Tribute to Mad’ is featuring a total of 85 cartoons by 50 cartoonists. Unmad magazine editor Ahsan Habib along with cartoonist couple Mehedi Haque and Nasrin Sultana inaugurated the exhibition on August 23. “The exhibition has been organised to pay tribute to Mad magazine and its publisher William Gaines. It is an open for all event. Besides cartoonists associated with Unmad, local cartoonists along with cartoonists from Norway, Nepal, United States and Malaysia are participating in the exhibition,” Ahsan Habib said.
“Unmad was greatly inspired by Mad magazine. I hope the viewers will like the displayed works,” he added. The displayed cartoons show Alfred E Neuman, the fictitious mascot of Mad magazine along with Unmad mascot. Cartoonists have addressed various contemporary issues like traffic jam, human relationship, monotonous urban life and others.
Mehedi Haque, also the executive editor of Unmad, has displayed a cartoon showing an old Alfred E Neuman laughing while reading Unmad sitting on a chair.
An untitled cartoon by cartoonist Antora shows both Unmad mascot and Mad mascot stuck in traffic jam on Dhaka’s street. The exhibition ends today.