Malay Bala becomes first PhD recipient from FFA, DU
Accomplished artist Malay Bala received a PhD degree from the Department of Oriental Art of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), University of Dhaka, earlier this month, becoming the first PhD degree recipient from the faculty.
He earned his PhD degree for submitting his dissertation titled “Institutional Trend of Oriental Painting in Bengal.” Professor Dr. Abdus Satter of the same department supervised his PhD dissertation.
Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin with other pioneer dreamers founded Dhaka Art School in 1948. The school later was turned into Dhaka Art College and subsequently got included as an Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University. The institute has now been a glorious Faculty of the University of Dhaka and an apex body of Art education in Bangladesh.
Born on December 10, 1978 at Ramshil, Kotalipara in Gopalgonj, Malay Bala stood first securing first class in both his BFA (Honours) and MFA (Masters) examinations from the Oriental Art Department where he currently teaches as an Assistant Professor. He bagged Dilnasheen Khanam Gold Medal in 2001. Malay Bala's father Manoranjan Bala is a poet, writer and a school teacher while his mother Maloti Bala is a housewife.
As a painter, Malay Bala has earned much acclaim in the contemporary art scene. Mingling romanticism with mythical idyll is what sets his work apart. “Shakuntala” is his most prized artwork series -- one that the artist has been working on for years. Inspired by the Sanskrit classic “Abhigyan Shakuntalam,” written by poet Kalidas, he exquisitely depicts vignettes of Shakuntala in a number of his paintings.
The oriental style of painting was popularised by Abanindranath Tagore [nephew of Rabindranath Tagore] who, centring on the basis of sharanga and inspired by aesthetics of Ajanta and Mughal miniature paintings, initiated Nabyo Bongiyo Chitrareeti (Neo-Bengal painting style) that upheld Swadeshi (patriotic) values. Later, following that trend, Oriental Art department was founded in this part of Bengal in 1955.
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