Page 285 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

282 ART AND CRAFTS

fig. 7.16 (top) Durre an exceptional personality of this
Khanam, title and media country. She returned to the
unknown, 1960 country after finishing her
diploma in sculpture from
fig. 7.17 (bottom) England in 1956. She practiced
Farida Zaman, sculpture which was not only not
Fisherwoman, oil on in circulation; it could also cause
canvas, 1978
religious controversy. Sculpture
came a long way with her
sincerity and dedication. She
researched into the uncommon
material of cement and iron rod.
Moreover, she conducted many
experiments with folk subject and form (fig. 7.14). The first sculpture exhibition, the
first outdoor sculpture and creating the first relief mural on a public edifice in Dhaka all
goes to her credit. She was also involved in creating the national Shaheed Minar,
monument to the martyrs of the Language Movement. She caused these revolutionary
incidents to happen in Dhaka between 1956 and 1960 and possibly left for West
Pakistan due to the lack of patronage. However, the combination of the folk trend with
internationalism and her clear concept of the contemporary western art world gave her
the boldness to step on the threshold of many new doors. Perhaps because she grew up
in a truly international and enlightened environment, her identity and her patriotic ideas
were not burdened by the shackles of inferiority. Moreover, as a woman she did not have
the pressure to achieve social recognition and professional success. This is perhaps why
she could so spontaneously continue in her experiments. She is the first modern sculptor
of Bangladesh. The teachers and administration of the government art institute was still
very wary of introducing sculpture in the curriculum in fear that people would begin to
think that they were encouraging un-Islamic practices in a Muslim country.
The first woman to have a solo painting exhibition in Dhaka was Durre Khanam. She
was better known as Rumi Islam because of her marriage to the artist, Aminul Islam.
Later they were divorced. Her exhibition was held in 1960,
two years after completing her education at the Institute of
Fine Art. This exhibition featured works in the medium of oil
and tempera and the paintings showed a clear bend towards
abstraction (fig. 7.16). The exhibition was highly acclaimed
by Zainul Abedin, A.L. Khatib and Sadeq Khan. Her work
42
showed great promise but she later completely disappeared
from the art world of Bangladesh.
We notice in both the cases of Novera Ahmed and Rumi
Islam that they entered the world of male-centric art even
though they were women. Great talent, firmness and
dedication must have followed them in their footsteps. Yet as