Page 43 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

40 ART AND CRAFTS

closed suddenly opened in front of us. Quite a few artists of the fifties received
scholarships in this period and received long term training in many countries. Through
books, writings, and exhibitions, our artists and students could become familiar to
global art much more intimately and directly. The fifties was also a time for Bengalis
to introspect and develop progressive thinking. A great part of the intellectual and
youth society was attracted to the progressive secular politics and the revival of
indigenous culture. The leading artists of the fifties were also active in this socio-
political movement. As a result, at the first stage of the respective art production of
many of these artists, a political pledge, opinion against social inequity and injustice,
and compassion towards people from the lower segments can be noticed.
It has been mentioned earlier that almost concurrent to the founding of Pakistan, an
institute of art education was established for the first time under the leadership of
Zainul Abedin in 1948. It was the artists who received training in Kolkata during the
forties prior to the partition and the artists who received institutional education in
Dhaka in the fifties who initiated the modern art movement of East Bengal. Few
significant individuals among the people who received training from the art institute
of Dhaka in the fifties and then went on to appear chiefly as painters are Aminul Islam
(1931), Hamidur Rahman (1928-88), Rashid Choudhury (1932-86), Murtaja Baseer
(1932), Abdur Razzaque (1932-2005), Qayyum Chowdhury (1934), Debdas
Chakraborty (1933), Syed Jahangir ((1935), Kazi Abdul Baset (1935-2002), Nitun
Kundu (1935-2006) and others. However, Hamidur Rahman went abroad for training
leaving his studies at Dhaka incomplete. Apart from that, Mohammad Kibria (1929)
completed his education from Kolkata and joined these artists in Dhaka. Among other
contemporary artists, there were Kazi Abdul Rouf (?), Syed Shafiqul Hussain (1927-
), Zunabul Islam (1929-1997), Imdad Hossain (1925-), Mubinul Azim (1934-75),
fig. 1.22 Mohammad Rashid Ahmed (1938-) and many others including Mustafa Monwar (1935-), who was
Kibria, Painting in trained in Kolkata. Many of them gained the opportunity to go abroad for training after
Black, oil, 1975 completing their education. Aminul Islam went to Italy, Rashid Choudhury to Spain
and France, Murtaja Baseer to Italy, Abdur
Razzaque and Abdul Baset went to United States of
America and all of them returned to their native
land upon receiving advanced training on various
branches of fine art. Apart from Hamidur Rahman,
Novera Ahmed also completed her art education
from abroad and started her practice of art in Dhaka
from the fifties. Through the hands of these artists
returning from overseas, various styles and
variations and methods of modern art of the western
world began to be applied liberally in our art. The
most appealing and popular style of art in the art
world of Europe and United States of America
during the fifties was Abstract Expressionism and