Page 214 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

GRAPHIC DESIGN 211

with the immense possibility and limitations of alphabets, which we
observe in several covers and illustrations.
Limiting the discussion of the Kolkata centered history of book
illustration in Bengal, we are now going to shed light on its
development in Bangladesh after partition. We do not find any
significant information about cover design and illustration art in the
present region of Bangladesh before the partition in 1947. Rather
the publication industry was entirely centered in Kolkata.
Newspaper, magazine, books were published since the
establishment of the first printing press in Dhaka (1849) and from
other areas of the country but they were not very significant. The
Ketabpatti of Chawkbazar has already been mentioned. There had
been almost no illustrated publication in Dhaka. The possible reason
might be the fact that until then there had been no framework for art
education or practice in Dhaka.
In 1948, the Government Institute of Art was established in Dhaka.
The history of cover design and illustration in Bangladesh primarily
originated through the artists, teachers, and students of this institute.
However, before that we have to remember the contribution of artist,
Kazi Abul Kasem (1913-2004). Kazi Abul Kasem was a self-taught artist. He did not fig. 4.16 Kazi Abul
get the chance to get formal education. As far as we know, he was the first Muslim Kasem, book cover
artist from East Bengal who worked as a commercial artist in the 30s and 40s in
Kolkata. Apart from working in advertising agencies, he did numerous covers and
illustrations in the realistic trend by depicting stories and writings. Among these, he
showed his skill in illustration of children’s books (fig. 4.16). For example, in the
illustration of Hatem Tai, we find the fairies, genies, snakes and costumes depicted
wonderfully which can easily captivate children. These illustrations were first drawn
in waterproof ink and later the contrast of light and shade was depicted with
watercolor. Even though he followed Upendrakishore’s work in the beginning, he was
able to find his own style. After partition, he came back to Dhaka. Among his other
important works, we can mention Sardar Jainuddin’s Abak Avijan, Ashraf Siddiqui’s
Banijyate Jabo Ami etc.
Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin and Patua Quamrul Hassan are the two personalities who
founded the base of cover and illustration art in our country and paved the way to its
development. Zainul Abedin made his debut in book illustration before partition. From
what we know till now, the sample of his first illustration work is Chhotoder Sachitra
Krittibas published from Kolkata in 1947. We find 18 illustrations in this book. One
of these was used as the cover. 45
After partition, alongside establishing an art education institute in Dhaka, his own
practice and several other socio-cultural activities, he presented us many wonderful
book covers. His cover and illustrations in Shamsuddin Abul Kalam’s Kashboner