Page 264 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

CONCEPTUAL ART AND NEW TRENDS 261

practice. Thus after several fig. 6.10 (top) Wakilur
endeavors resulting from Rahman, Smaraknama
the student artists’ interest (memorial), paper,
in novelty, almost all of fabric, thread, etc.
them went back to the Bangladesh Liberation
War Museum, 1997
conventional art forms.
Besides, most of these fig. 6.11 (bottom) Ashok
works were presented and Karmaker, A Close
practiced in the confines of Encounter with Violent
the courtyard of the Kind, mixed media, 10 th
Institute of Fine Art. Asian Art Biennale,
Consequently, these Dhaka, 2001
presentations could not
reach a wider audience
beyond that of the students and teachers of art. Though these presentations received
instant appreciation from a limited circle, they were unable to create any impact on
society. And also this initiative failed to gather well-defined characteristics of a
movement. Despite the loss of interest among the student artists, some of the senior
artists attempted to add new dimensions to this unconventional trend. They attempted
to create a kind of environmental artwork focusing around subjects like Independence,
Liberation War, Language Movement, etc.
The artists of the Shomoy group, formed during the 80s, organized an exhibition after
a long gap in the Shilpakala Academy of Dhaka in 1995. The exhibition that took place
from 16th to 28th April was a continuation of their previous practice. However, some
of the works that were presented in this exhibition were installation-type. Lala Rukh
Selim, who had earlier been involved in terracotta sculpture, presented works made of
paper, sand and such other temporary materials. Towfiqur Rahman’s presentation of a
work made of water, polythene etc. was also installation-type. Wakilur Rahman, now
an expatriate in Germany, organized an exhibition entitled Smaraknama in a room of
the Liberation War Museum in Dhaka (fig 6.10). He converted the paper cuttings, of
news by the local journalists published during the period between 1995 and 1997 about
the current condition of people affected by the war of independence, into the forms of
250 books and hung those in the gallery. In contrast to the elite characteristics that the
subject of independence was gaining through
mainstream art and intellectual practices, this
installation was aimed at creating an
alternative study of independence.
Ashok Karmaker presented an exhibition titled
Kalratri or Dark Hour in Shilpakala Academy
focusing on the brutal genocide by the Pakistani