Page 379 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

c. Aminul Islam
Moinuddin Khaled

The practice of fine arts in this country gained momentum during the 1950s. Aminul
Islam is an eminent artist of this period. Along with academic education, by assimilating
the essence of art from diverse sources and meeting with many famous artists and art
loving humanitarians, he enriched his own life and art. The contribution of Aminul
Islam in bringing a modern dimension to the fine arts of this country is undisputed.
According to record, Aminul Islam was born on 7 November 1931. Nevertheless, the
artist himself is skeptical about the authenticity of this date. Because the paper (thikuji)
that contained his date of birth had worn out so much that it could not be read properly.
He believes that he was born in 1930. His ancestral house is in the village of Jalakandi
near Dhaka. But he was born in his maternal house in the village Tetia on the river
Meghna. At that time, Aminul’s father was working in Mymensingh as a sub-divisional
School Inspector, and Aminul passed some time of his childhood in Mymensingh.
There was no practice of proper fine arts in his family. But the kind of artistic talent
that can be found in making necessary artifacts of rural life was present in his elder
uncle. His uncle had a strong attraction towards making fishing rods, kites, hand fans
etc. and enjoyed traditional theatres and opera. The cultural ambience of his maternal
house deeply inspired his creativity in his childhood and adolescence. His maternal
grandfather was not attracted to a domestic life. He believed in the innate marfati
philosophy of the Nengta Fakir (Naked Saint) of Beltala. At the same time, he also
contributed to the welfare of the farmer community. In his autobiography Aminul
mentions that the cultural environment of his maternal grandparents’ house had
particularly influenced his mental frame, ‘Probably the bent towards secularism and
traveling that I got at the initial stage of my quest for roots came through my maternal
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grandparents’ home.’ [Trans.]
His mental frame was further enriched by the cultural ambience of the female
fig. 9.14 Aminul Islam
quarters of his house. As a child, Aminul tasted the essence of art by watching the
traditional nakshi pitha (designed cake) and embroideries done by his mother and
aunts. He says, ‘To watch the making of those nakshi pitha was my first experience
of art creation - a kind of symmetry and ornamentation. I used to join in the work
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disregarding their bar.’ [Trans.]
A creative person experiences multidimensional influences. The natural beauty of his
birthplace, Tetia village on the Meghna, and different activities of its inhabitants had
stirred his passion for creativity in childhood. The artist himself informs us, through
his autobiography, about his inspirations to become an artist. Owing to the transferable
job of his father, they lived in Chashara of Narayanganj district for some time. His
primary education started there in the school of Pundit Ramkanai. He took admission
in the free primary school of Mahuttuli in 1936 after his father was transferred to