Page 398 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

SECOND GENERATION ARTISTS 395

like the planned artisans village of Zainul Abedin. Talking about Zainul Abedin,
Rashid Choudhury said, ‘The most significant contribution of Zainul Abedin was that
he paid attention to folk art. ... He had discovered our tradition.’ 53 [Trans] We
understand that the thoughts of his teacher on art had influenced Rashid Choudhury in
various ways right from the beginning.
We have already said that Rashid Choudhury was an extrovert man and he wanted to
blend the world of art with social activities. He was interested in different aspects of
art. He wrote poetry. We also know about his interest in music. In 1964 when he was
working as part-time teacher in the University of Engineering & Technology at Dhaka
he got involved with a new wave poet group of that institution named Naa (No). We
know from the writing of Professor Abul Mansur that he was a fan of Bauhaus
54
established by Walter Gropius. He wanted to build a full-fledged institution in line
with the concept of Bauhaus combining the Fine Arts department of the Chittagong
University and the Fine Art College of Chittagong. He wanted to establish an artist-
village in Chittagong also. He thought about building an art centre on top of a hill in
Chittagong. The idea was that artists would live and work there and there would also
be a sale centre. He could not fulfill these dreams but the art education institutions that
he built in Chittagong created an environment and a readiness for art practice there.
The present trend of art practice in Chittagong bears testimony to this.
Influence on the art of Bangladesh:
The main characteristic of the works of Rashid Choudhury is his effort to blend his
own tradition with modern western art. We can identify this trend as a prevalent one
in the art practice of Bangladesh. Many artists of Bangladesh have taken folk life and
folk art as their main sources of inspiration in creating modern art. We do not find any
apparent similarity of this process with the presentation of Rashid Choudhury’s works
but it seems that his thoughts about art have influenced them indirectly. The elements
in Rashid Choudhury’s works gradually assume obscure, unknown forms that are
semi-abstract. This very nature of presentation has become a major trend in the art
practice of Bangladesh. We can connect the art works of Rashid Choudhury directly
and indirectly with this trend.
The experiments of Rashid Choudhury with different media and his efforts to develop
a relationship between art and society have created the opportunity to inspire us to
think about on art in many ways. The experimentation with media and the closeness of
art with life that we find in the installation works and postmodern works of the new
generation of artists since the eighties might have been influenced by the philosophy of
art of Rashid Choudhury. At least we can say this much that the rhythm of the thoughts
on art of Rashid Choudhury is being heard continuously in his beloved Bangladesh.

Translated by Mahmudul Hossain, Editor, Drishyaroop, Dhaka