Page 204 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

GRAPHIC DESIGN 201

Right after partition, a poster exhibition was arranged in Burdwan House in Dhaka
with the theme of the chronological history starting from Muhammad Bin Kasim’s
conquest of Sindh until the birth of Pakistan. The drawing of these posters was done
by Zainul Abedin (1914-1976) and the coloring by Quamrul Hassan. Later, Zainul
Abedin gave finishing touches to the drawings and colors. It needs to be mentioned
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that the reason behind choosing this theme for the exhibition was to convince the then
Pakistani rulers that Art has a functional value as well. A few years after this
exhibition, the Art Institute was founded in Dhaka and the Dhaka Art Group (1950)
was founded under the leadership of Zainul Abedin. In the first exhibition of the
Dhaka Group, a copy of Bihzad’s drawing (black and white) was used as a poster,
which was done by Quamrul Hassan. 24
The artists of our country made significant contributions during the Language
Movement of 1952. Posters done by Murtaja Baseer (1933 - ) and Imdad Hossain
(1925 - ) are mentionable here.
However, during the Pakistani regime, posters in Bangladesh developed along with
the film industry. During the 50s and 60s film posters were done in lithography. 25
However, a few posters were printed in West Pakistan for the sake of technical
convenience. In this connection, we can mention posters of two films with Rahman in
the leading role, Milon and Indhon, designed by Qayyum Chowdhury. The aesthetic
posters of Khan Ataur Rahman’s Sirajuddowla and Bhawal Sanyasi designed by
Abdus Sabur can be referred to here. Nitun Kundu (1936-2006) drew an
unconventional poster for the film Tanha. Shubhash Dutta and A. Z. Pasha are also
important as film poster designers. During the Pakistani regime, Kamart and
Evergreen Publicity were two important organizations for designing film posters.
After liberation, cinema posters were printed extensively in this country. However,
these posters were in monochrome. Later, at the end of the 70s printing developed
alongside technology. There were new possibilities in design and graphics. By the end
of the 70s colored posters were beginning to be printed. Nevertheless, a number of
monochrome posters are worthy of attention, for example- posters of the films
Sutorang, Abirbhab, Nil Akasher Niche etc. Posters of films like Madhumilon,
Mainamati etc. were very attractive and popular with audiences among the first stage
of colored posters of this era.
The hero, heroine and sometimes villains are the focus in cinema posters. The
special kind of calligraphy for film titles are also part of cinema posters. Usually
cinema posters are designed keeping in mind the mood and subject matter of the
film. In the 70s and 80s advertising agencies like Dawn Publicity, M Art, Rupayan,
BKD, Universal, Nandonik etc. made major contributions in the improvement of
cinema posters. The posters of films important because of their aesthetic and artistic
value are Jibon Theke Neya, Arunodoyer Agnishakshi, Surjo Shangram, Golapi
Ekhon Trainey, Palanka, Dhire Bohe Meghna, Sundori, Simana Periye, Titas Ekti
Nodir Nam, Dahan etc. The double demi size poster (23´´×36´´) once used to be the