Page 74 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

PAINTING 71

of woman is quite direct and clear. Along with that, Sulekha uses many objects of day-
to-day life as the symbolic attachments to her message– such as the apple, cockroach,
sandal, doll, scar or wound etc. All of these assist in expressing the helplessness of
woman’s existence within the wounded reality of life (pl. 1.48).
Tasadduk Hossain Dulu’s world is a bit different. Although protest is the key element
in the art endeavors of the young generation, Dulu draws attention through the
distinctiveness of his perception. The object of this distinctiveness is identifying the
ingredients of art within the ordinary objects from the surroundings of everyday life
and the attempt to suggest some greater truth through them. The various amusing
range of human expressions become subjects of interest just as a clip, water mug,
lingerie or water tap. Through an outward humor, it is as if Dulu expresses our
inconsistent way of life (pl. 1.49).
The youngest artist who seems to have earned enough distinctiveness to be mentioned
in this discussion of contemporary times is Ronni Ahmmed. His main world of ideas
is determined by the influence of Surrealism. He creates a scene steeped in mystery by
bringing together strange and grotesque creatures and environment from a world of
fantasy which is beyond the experience of reality; this may be the image of some
thought from the depths of consciousness. However, he also thinks about creating
monumental paintings that would search for the mystery of life (pl. 1.50). Thus, we
get from a young artist like him a thoughtful huge scroll painting– Noah’s Arc. This
may be termed as one of the notable endeavors among the artistic activities in
contemporary Bangladesh.
Many of the artists among those who have engaged in creating art from the nineties
and onwards, and whose names we have mentioned at the beginning, are making
known their competence and potential in various media and method. It is very much
possible that the shape of art in Bangladesh in the next few decades will flourish in
their hands.
Conclusion
The contemporary art of Bangladesh has evolved and advanced in many diverse media
and styles in the course of six decades of history. In an extremely poverty struck
country and within an environment of a huge uneducated population, this journey of
the fine arts has naturally been impeded time and again. Artists have had to practice
art amidst extremely adverse circumstances engulfed by the lack of minimum
availability of materials and institutional facilities, uncertainty of employment and
limitation in earning a living. Along with the practice of art, the artist had to struggle
against the indifferent and often hostile social atmosphere. The artist has also had to
take part in the struggle of the people against violation of political, economical and
cultural rights; they have had to leave their paintbrushes and pick up weapons in the
struggle for national freedom. Apart from political instability and economic
uncertainty that is characteristic of third world countries, the cultural workers of our
country had to fight against the Pakistani colonialist policy of suppression for twenty-