Page 203 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

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(recently abolished East Asiatic), Interspeed, Adcom, Mediacom, Madonna, Matra,
Roop, Expressions Ltd. etc. (some of these agencies were established before
Bangladesh). Artists trained in the Institute of Fine Art have played an important role
in the creation of the advertisements in these agencies.
After the liberation of Bangladesh, our advertising agencies were mostly inspired by
the Indian agencies (also agencies in the west) and in terms of design, were
sometimes influenced by them as well. Original work was not absent in this scenario
but the number was limited.
2. Poster
The Poster is one of the instruments of modern day publicity. Information or message
when written or printed on a piece of paper and displayed on walls or public places for
the purpose of public viewing and communication are called posters. If we have to
trace back the history of posters in Bangladesh, we have to refer to the stone
inscriptions of royal edicts and declarations during Emperor Asoka’s rule. The
examples of embroidery found in the rural households even today, containing different
kinds of messages, can also be referred to here. However, our current concept of poster
has nothing in common with these.
After the East India Company assumed power by the second half of the 18th century,
the cheap English prints imported into this country mark the beginning of modern day
posters. Later, in the 19th century the prints available in Bat-tala can also be
considered as posters. These cheap prints were very popular and many people used to
collect and use them for various purposes (pl. 4.1). After the establishment of the
Government Art School in Kolkata in 1864 one of its early students (later to become
teacher) Annada Prasad Bagchi (1849-1905) founded an art studio in Kolkata, which
supplied a large number of posters with pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses,
portraits of great men and pictures depicting mythological stories. A number of art
studios of this kind were opened later on. Litho methods were used predominantly in
these studios (pl. 4.2). There was no attempt to publicize any product, organization
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or to convey any message through these posters, rather they were made for
commercial use with the sole purpose of making profit.
There is an opinion that modern posters were introduced in this country since the
independence movement in British India. Especially during the World War II, the
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freedom fighters of the Indian subcontinent raised their voice against the oppression of
British Imperial rule, with posters. Many posters saying ‘No war, we want peace’ [trans.]
were published at that time. In this regard, we can mention the works of Nandalal Bose
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(1882-1966) in 1937 on the occasion of the Haripura Congress (pl. 1.6).
However, during British rule, a different kind of poster was published with
government sponsorship, the main purpose of which was to promote a market for
British products. For example, a few of the posters printed on tin plates explaining the
merits of drinking tea and its recipes can still be found in some old railway stations.