The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

"Rokeya Shakawat Hossain was a Bengali feminist, writer and forward thinker. Born in 1880, in what is now Bangladesh, she wrote extensively, arguing for the education of women. She set up a school for Muslim girls and founded the Bengali Muslim Women's Association. In 1905, she wrote Sultana's Dream, used as quotes within this work. This a witty story about a utopia, Naristan (Ladyland), where women are free within the public arena and men are kept secluded away. Naristan is a non-violent country of health and beauty, combining knowledge from the arts and science to form a sustainable society working in tandem with nature. Bangladesh still celebrates December 9, the anniversary of Rokeya's birth, as Begum Rokeya Day, with newspapers publishing special articles, organized events and conferences as well as posters and chains of flowers to decorate the roads," said British photographer Arabella Plouviez about her theme of the works at photography exhibition titled 'Naristan' at Drik Gallery in the capital.

To homage the icon, Drik Gallery and British Council in association with International Photography Research Network (IPRN) and University of Sunderland jointly organised the photography exhibition to observe the International Women's Day. The exhibition featured photographs of women from varied backgrounds by Arabella Plouviez. The exhibition concluded on March 17.

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain wrote the short story 'Sultana's Dream' in 1905. The story was originally published in The Indian Ladies Magazine at Chennai in India in English.

"Now that they are accustomed to the 'Purdah' system and have ceased to grumble at their seclusion, we call the system 'Murdana' instead of 'Zenana," this type of lines were in the Sultana's Dream.

For Begum Rokeya, the idea of 'female empowerment' must not have been alien. She was after all a pioneering Bengali feminist, writer, social reformer and progressive thinker. She wrote extensively, arguing for the education of women and set up a school for Muslim girls. She also founded the Bengali Muslim Women's Association.

Plouviz has photographed women who are renowned like Hamida Hossain, as well as everyday housewives. None of the captions include the name of the subject but quotes from 'Sultana's Dream.'

Arabella Plouviez is the Head of Photography at the University of Sunderland. Arabella has been a practicing photographer for a number of years making work for exhibition and publication. Her work involves image and text to visualise ideas and issues often researched through working with different groups of people. These include work looking at women prisoners in a high security prison, the representation of women in Northern England, image text work about drug users and HIV/AIDS, the communities along the rural coastal areas of North East England, a recent commission in Bangladesh and research into imagery of 'mad & bad' women.

Before moving to the University sector, Arabella worked in community photography in London, establishing a photography project working with various communities and groups including the homeless, drug users, single mothers and the unemployed. Arabella has, with colleagues, been instrumental in setting up a photography research centre at the University of Sunderland, including the IPRN, which received major the European Union (EU) funding for photographic commissioning along with partners in Slovakia, the Netherlands, Germany and Finland. Arabella's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally both within formal gallery spaces and in less conventional environments.

The subjects of the exhibition were all in their homes, either relaxing in the lounge, or contemplating in the bedroom.

The accompanying caption of a photo featured the late poet Sufia Kamal' portraits and her daughter Sayeda Kamal reads, "This is Naristan, free from sin and harm. Virtue herself reigns here."

An image featured Shaheed Dr. Milan's widow showed a modest room with bare essentials. The caption reads, "All present solemnly vowed that they would never allow themselves to be enslaved, no matter what happened."

'Naristan,' with only 12 photographs, might come across as 'indistinguishable' to the layman, uninformed viewer, but provided with the photographer's note and captions, this exhibition was rather inspiring.

Arabella Plouviez was commissioned by IPRN at the University of Sunderland and Arts Council England to undertake a commission in Bangladesh, hosted by Drik.