The New Nation - Internet Edition

Art & Culture Report

Recently the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) launched a campaign called 'Walk the World,' annual global advocacy event. Main objective of the campaign was to alleviate hunger across the world by 2015.

This year, the WFP and its partners arranged special events in Bangladesh to raise funds for underprivileged school children.

"There are more than 850 million people in the world who know what it is like to be hungry; tragically, 400 million of them are children. About 59 million primary school age children attend school hungry. The WFP's School Feeding programmes globally aim at quenching hunger and promoting education among these poor, malnourished hungry children. WFP believes that providing nutritious snacks at school is a simple but effective way to give poor children a chance to learn and thrive," said a WFP official in Bangladesh.

Recently a daylong painting workshop was organised by the UNWFP, Creative Communication Ltd and Gallery Chitrak on this occasion. Some 34 leading artists participated in the workshop. The outputs of the workshop were exhibited at Gallery Chitrak from May 16 to 20. Proceeds from sales of the paintings will go to the global campaign "Walk the World" that addresses hunger.

Boats seen in a row, with a golden sky in the backdrop and a royal blue river below was found in Syed Jehangir's painting. Abstractions in gray, gold and black decorated Monirul Islam's piece. Shahid Kabir, with his love for simplicity, presented a dish of food, the meal appearing to be "daal" and "bhaat".

Women gossiping, in bright exotic saris, were seen in Abdus Shakoor's painting. Dotted and striped birds and gay buntings completed the creation. A tranquil, idyllic image of cliffs, boats and the river in the front were seen in Hamiduzzaman Khan's painting. Black and grey life-like pecking crows featured in Rafiqun Nabi's work, while Hashem Khan brought in a semi circle of hungry children, holding a large, empty bowl. Semi-abstract images of nature in greens and blues were seen in Chandra Shekhar Dey and Biren Shome's landscapes.

Rokeya Sultana's swirls and glides in blue, gold and red, containing a woman's figure was also fascinating. The image of a resting young girl, surrounded by birds in shades of grey by Fareha Zeba was definitely eye-catching. The bird, flowers, boats and the outline of a human figure in Shishir Bhattacharjee's work was also breathtaking. Maksudul Ahsan had a mother and child theme presented in serene sweeps of grey, with a delicate touch of red to denote the 'Paar' of a woman's sari.

Jamal Ahmed's riverbank scene with travellers seemed to win many hearts. Ranjit Das' girl child in white, seen against an expanse of chrome yellow, was remarkable too. Farida Zaman's preoccupation with fishing nets and cats made a delightful picture in shades of amber gold and grey.

Naima Haque's abstraction in splashes of turquoise and blue was a soft and soothing mass of rhythmic, pulsating colours. Ahmed Nazir's rows of emerald and brown presented a serene landscape. Kanak Chanpa Chakma's delineation of the Hill Tracts woman, seen against an expanse of crimson was fascinating too.

Muniruzzaman brought in shadows of children dancing in a ring, full of joie de vivre. Rezaun Nabi presented an ethereal presentation of delicate trees, hills and rivers, in shades of muted blues and greens. Abul Barq Alvi's abstraction with merging forms and Alokesh Ghosh's birds resting about a pool were amazing too.