Display: Peace building through art

Exhibition featuring 10 artists from Bangladesh starts today.


Momina Sibtain December 14, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Promoting international heritage and peace building values, works of 10 Bangladeshi artists will be shown at the Nomad Art Gallery today. The curator, Nageen Hayat, has hand picked a wide array of new and established artists for the show and the press preview for the event was held at the gallery on Monday.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by the High Commissioner of Bangladesh Suhrab Hossain and continue till December 21. It will feature the works of Mahabubul Islam Baabu, Syed Mohammed Shamim, Zahir Hossain Newton, Rezaun Nabi, Mohammed Fakhruzzaman, Anisuzzaman Anis, Abdul Aziz, Rajaul Islam, Shahin Akhter Lipi and Fehmida Khatun. All of these artists have received national and international acclaim for their work.

With three artists present in Islamabad representing the entire collection, the work speaks of the skill and the maturity of these artists.

The entire collection focuses on symbolism, abstract themes using imagery of women, crows, pigeons, motifs and other signs to explain the innovative ideas of artists with diverse mediums. The exhibition offers a unique collection in which every piece depicts a different theme, where the medium has been presented with the symbolic signs in powerful expressions.

Mastery in water colour, woodcut and acrylics can all be witnessed in the collection. In other words there is something for every taste and style. The mix of symbolism and oriental themes highlighting some of the paintings give a deeper perspective into the artists’ culture and heritage in a very under-toned manner. Using faces, figures, birds and horses the collection at large has a very universal feel, yet one can get a flavor of the artists’ individuality from their work.

Rajaul Islam displays the masterly techniques in wood cut, while Shahin Akhter shows history capturing abstract architectural images.

ZH Newton’s symbolic and local themes reflect his life in a sensitive way, whereas Adbul Aziz gives bluish
tones to his thematic work using the medium of water colours with a strong drawing of women.

Furthermore, Anisuzzaman Anis’ work is based on wood cuts along with mixed media, knife work and water colours.

A very young yet celebrated artist from Bangladesh, he has also gotten acclaim at international forums. Anis is a privileged award holder from the Asian Biennale, one of the most prestigious art competitions in Asia.

Rezuan Nabi uses the face of a woman to capture his imagination. “The face is very true to us and I want to represent the women of my country here through this platform. I use the dove because it is a symbol of peace and solidarity and this is where our nations connect,” he said. Using acrylics on paper the artist creates the soft texture of water colours which gives the work a very open and light feel to it.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2010.

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