The New Nation - Internet Edition

Faces of feminine expressions from Bangladesh

Atia Islam Anne, Present Situation-2 : Acrylic on
canvas

Nazlee Laila Mansur, Usable Painting on Bedcover:
Acrylic on canvas

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

“This exhibition from Bangladesh showcases works by 10 contemporary women artists. Most of them have earned prominence in the artistic arena of Bangladesh in the past few decades. Some are of recent reputations. Some have careers and oeuvres that have gone through considerable changes during the course of long efforts and experimentation. Women artists have begun to emerge in the mainstream art of Bangladesh quite late in comparison to their male counterparts. It was only in the 1980s that a significant number of women took up art as their primary mode of expression. The language and vocabulary of their works, the creative individuality they have displayed, the unique nature of thought they have inserted and the distinctive changes they have inserted and the distinctive changes they have brought about, signify well the identification of women artist's names with some of the leading trends in contemporary art in Bangladesh," said Shaela Sharmin, Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Chittagong, about a group exhibition of 10 female artists from Bangladesh titled 'Faces of Feminine Expressions from Bangladesh' held at Akar Prakar in Kolkata in India. The exhibition was jointly organised by Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts of Bangladesh and Akar Prakar of India. Akar Prakar opened in South Kolkata in July 2003. It is an open - air, display friendly art gallery. Reena and Abhijit Lath bring to it three generations of art insight. It has supported fledging artists and has featured several seniors.

The exhibition was inaugurated on June 19. Eminent Indian Bangali artist Poritosh Sen inaugurated the exhibition.

Artists Nazlee Laila Mansur, Farida Zaman, Nasreen Begum, Rokeya Sultana, Dilara Begum Jolly, Murshida Arzu Alpana, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Atia Islam Anne and Shulekha Chaudhury. Of them, artist Murshida Arzu Alapana has been living in Germany for more than a decade, while artist Tayeba Begum is participating a workshop in Pakistan at present.

The oppressed and helpless state of women in a male-dominated society and the chaotic political situation in the country, which aggravated the peril of the women, found powerful expression arranged in a narrative structure in the canvasses of Nazlee Laila Mansur. In her somewhat motionless world we love threatened by contemporary chaos, fundamentalism and political unrest or a girl sitting on the secured environment of her home, threatened by unexpected fear of humiliation.

We find some similarities in the works of Farida Zaman, Nasreen Begum and Rokeya Sultana in terms of visible appearance and aesthetic concern. Their aquatic canvasses are very sensitive in mood, involve thin application of colours through transparent washes and layers.

In the world of Dilara Begum Jolly, biological organs find limpid expressions through emotive and metaphorical use of forms derived from nature. They become transcendental in a poetic but claustrophobic space in her canvases.

Works of Murshida Arzu Alpana seem to personify her inner self, not by painting her own images, but by finding resemblance of herself in all women she depicts. The most striking characteristics of her works are evident in their spontaneity and freshness. Using huge canvasses her love and affection towards her childhood memories.

Kanak Chanpa Chakma belongs to the one of ethnic communities of Bangladesh. In her paintings the subject matter is her community and most of them are women. She seems to be also influenced by the philosophy of Buddhism. She represents the agony and suffering as well as the power of resistance by men against the temptations the world offers.

Tayeba Begum Lipi works from the point of a feminist discourse and post-modernistic understanding. In most of her works she portrays herself as a central solitary figure though they do not always simply look autobiographical. They display an overt feminine charm superimposed by a mixture of her sexuality, struggle of womanhood and motherhood. The youngest among these artists is Shulekha Chowdhury. She has her own straight-cut way of feministic depiction with the use of symbols taken from trivial household elements or objects from nature. She relates the suppression of women and their sufferings and humiliations in the everyday life they face in her own way of symbolism.

The 10 women artists of Bangladesh showcased in the present exhibition, display a common concern of their gender identity, but at the same time present a panoramic display of diverse styles, modes and vocabularies which, we believe, will present a vivid example of contemporary art practice in Bangladesh.

The exhibition will end on June 30.

'Beyond the Dream’: Solo photography exhibition by Srabon Reza

Endless Affection

Art & Culture Report

“Srabon, the photographer presents imperishable childhood incidents, lifetime memories and scenes from nature. He has captured some simple yet priceless moments from different angles. He is struggling hard in search of the purity of art," said eminent artist Hashem Khan about photographs of Srabon Reza at his first solo exhibition titled 'Beyond the Dream' at La Galerie of Alliance Francaise in Dhanmondi in the capital.

The exhibition was inaugurated on June 6 and concluded on June 19. Artist Hashem Khan, eminent photographer Dr Nowazesh Ahamed, Jazques Bounin, Deputy Director of Alliance Francaise, poet Aslam Sani, among others, were present at the inauguration of the exhibition.

Working in the magazine 2000, Srabon has attained recognition both at home and abroad. He said, "I came to Dhaka three years ago. Living in a village in Chittagong, there was not much scope for me to follow a career in arts or media. While visiting my brother in Dhaka, I met Shahadat Parvez of Prothm Alo. He encouraged me to do a basic course in photography by Pathshala in 2001. Next I got involved with the Chittagong Photographic Society and learnt from my seniors."

In his exhibition, Srabon has depicted the joys, sorrows, hopes and despairs of children. He selected the subject as he found children in natural mood. It had not been easy for him to continue his career in photography, as he has to finance himself in Dhaka. Apart from senior photographers, he has studied the works of GMB Akash and Abir Abdullah. Most of the photographs at the exhibition have been shot in the village of Nadimpur in Chittagong. Srabon worked in the mornings and evenings. In the photographs, one saw different scenes such as children playing football on a rainy day, when the sky and the mud appeared green.

There was the image of a young girl covering her face and laughing and it filled one with joy to see such bliss. A child was peeping from behind barbed wires reflected the restrictions that childhood sometimes had to confront.

The seated children on the bridge of a trunk of a tree, playing and teasing each other with the backdrop of the forest, with muddy water below was also a scene of contentment, with children enjoying nature to the fill.

Pintu Deb’s solo art & craft exhibition

Poetry of Wood-12

Art & Culture Report

The 1st solo art and craft exhibition of Pintu Deb was ended recently at the Zainul Gallery of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University.

Asaduzzaman Noor inaugurated the weeklong show on June 10. Abdus Shakoor Shah, Director of the Institute of Fine Arts, Kaiser A Chowdhury, Managing Director of AB Bank, attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The exhibition featured 37 artworks of different media including wood, serigraph and mixed elements.

Pintu has featured human figures, their stories, pains and pleasures in his wood-works. He has seen the beauties of women and nature all around him and presented them on his canvas. He has depicted woman figures, fruits, flowers, plants and thus he has given a shape of his dreams and imaginations in his art-works at the exhibition.

Terming Pintu as hard working, art critic Nahid Akhtar said, "Pintu has worked hard for around five years to attract more attention to wood work, which has remained fairly a neglected area in the art establishment of the country."

Pintu was born in Netrakona in 1978. He completed his MFA degree from the Institute of Fine Arts in 2002. He participated in a number of group art exhibitions in the country.

He has also won the 9th Berger Young Painters' Art Competition Award 2004 and Experimental Best Award 2005 from the Institute of Fine Arts.