Page 184 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

PRINTMAKING 181

Alvi, Kalidas Karmakar, Monirul Islam, Abdus Sattar, Rokeya Sultana, Shahid Kabir,
A.K.M. Alamgir, Ratan Majumdar and others.
A New Chapter in the Printmaking of Bangladesh
All the pioneering artists in the field of fine arts in Bangladesh have made some
contribution to the medium of printmaking. Examples in this medium can be found of
artists such as Zainul Abedin and Quamrul Hassan. Zainul has made prints of famine
pictures. Quamrul Hassan has also executed numerous art works in the print medium.
He created quite a few excellent woodcut prints in 1974. Taking various animals as his
subject he tried to depict a time of evil (fig.3.9). One of the pictures of his Three Women
series is also executed in woodcut. Through the fifties and sixties Safiuddin and Kibria
were the only two names associated with the field of printmaking. Actually, the print
medium follows the other media of the pictorial arts. In terms of subject, ideals and
tradition the current trend of a particular period is reflected in the printmaking of that
time. It may be mentioned here that the printmaking medium depends greatly on
technique and in some cases some accidental effects can be achieved which perhaps
gives a different significance to the medium. In the field of printmaking of Bangladesh
there was never a particularly powerful school or trend noticeable. In the sixties when
some artists of Bangladesh were practicing abstract art, Zainul and Quamrul were still
painting in their individual realistic way. Therefore, we can say that the kind of practice
that has existed in the print medium to date bears the stamp of this mixed influence of
the art world in general. Here it is noteworthy that in the fifties, sixties and seventies and
even later many artists have received higher training from abroad in printmaking.
Through the efforts of the artists returning from abroad a kind of efflorescence of
printmaking is to be noticed. New techniques, concepts and subjects were added to it.
This medium is dependent on instruments and technology. In this case the technological
advancement of developed countries has touched our field of printmaking.
In the national level of Bangladesh as well as in the international exhibitions a
considerable number of artists participate in the print medium. Moreover, individual
and group exhibitions of prints are quite common. In September 2003 an exhibition
named Prints of This Time was organized by Shilpangan Gallery in Dhaka. The works fig. 3.9 Quamrul
of thirty senior and junior artists of Bangladesh were included in the exhibition. In Hassan, Image `74,
August 2003 the Gallery Chitrak in Dhaka organized an exhibition named Four woodcut, 1974