17th National Art Biennale
Yet another laurel for artist Faruk Ahmed
Ershad Kamol
This is for the third consecutive time that artist Faruk Ahmed has won an award at the National Art Biennale, organised by the Department of Fine Arts, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA). This year, at the 17th arrangement of the biennale, Faruk has won Begum Azizunnesa Fine Art Award for his mixed media work titled Composition 2. Earlier, the talented artist won AB Bank Award and Honourable Mention Award at the 16th and 15th session of the biennale, which were held in 2005 and 2003 respectively. In fact, Faruk's journey in the arena of fine arts has been adorned with several honours and awards. He earned the Honourable Mention Award in 1996 at the 11th Young Artist Exhibition (also organised by BSA). Moreover, he won Best Media Award and Best Experimental Award at the annual art exhibitions organised by the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA).Composition 2, Faruk's award-winning work at the ongoing National Art Biennale, features traditional motifs, often used by rural artisans in Nakshikantha. The contemporary presentation of the motifs in Faruk's work is appealing. Composition 2 contains four parts; each has sub-sections. Going over his success at the art biennales, Faruk says, "I think the unique presentation of traditional motifs is the secret of my success. I like to experiment with motifs and patterns like images of bede, churiwali and snake charmers in my work. My education at the Institute of Fine Arts taught me to develop aesthetic value and the use of materials for crafts. However, I do believe, inspiration from the surroundings is more influential than theories and styles learnt at institutions. " After completing his Bachelors and Masters degree from the Department of Craft, IFA, Faruk Ahmed is currently working as an Assistant Professor and the Head of the department. Explaining the reason for taking Craft as his subject, Faruk says that the department is one of the newest at IFA and there is room to contribute. On his future plan the artist says, "I've noticed that after graduating from the Department of Craft, IFA, some students are switching to other professions. I'd like to do something for them so that they don't need to switch to other fields."
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The award-winning artwork by Faruk Ahmed (left) & The artist (right) |
