Combining art with craft

Fish, by Belayet Hossain and his group

Ruhul Amin Kajol had won the admiration of every fine arts connoisseur back in 1992, when he wasn't even in the country to provide explanations or footnotes for his painting exhibit at La Gallery, Banani. He is now back from Copenhagen, with his more recent idea of bamboo sculpture, along with his colleagues, to present a superb open-air display at the British Council premises. One has known Kajol, working in between, at European capital cities, with his street paintings, which have been amply covered earlier inThe Daily Star. His recent bamboo sculpture display at the British Council, is not his sole venture, as his earlier assails in Dhaka. It is a team work, which meant more planning and co-ordination. The bamboo work has included muscle power, plus craft and imagination in ingenious weaving of bamboo strips on bamboo bars. In this, both his Bangladeshi colleagues and the craftsmen from the villages, have taken part.

Kajol's colleagues and the craftsmen, who have helped him in his outdoor sculpture, include Saidul Haque Juise (Mongol Jharu) and (Amar Shonar Bangla), Shakhawat Hossain (Garden), Mir Abdul Hamid (Chapa Bhair and Chai), Tarun Ghosh (Man of Tree), Fahmida Akhtar (Flame of Society), Mostafa Jamil Shameem (Uporeu Basha Achee), Belayet Hossain and his group (Fish), and Kamruzzaman Shadhain (AIDS). There were 16 sculptures on display; Kojol himself had two items, viz. Heaven's Gate-1 and Heaven's Gate-2.

Dwelling on the root of the concept of the sculpture exhibition at the British Council, Kajol said, 'This has a long history. I began working with bamboo sculpture in 1993 in Denmark. I took the split bamboo pieces in the from of strips with me from Bangladesh. These items had weighed 500 kilos and they had been air borne. The Swallows, a foreign NGO had paid for this. Working on them were my friends who I'd invited overseas and they were Saleh Mahmoud, Saidul Haque Juise and Shakawat Hussain. Saleh was the first of my co-mates who was experimenting with bamboo sculpture forms back in 1989, when I came back from Denmark for the 2nd time, in Pahela Baishakh arrangements in street pageants, I believe. Before that I didn't realise that bamboo could be used for sculpted forms or figures on its own. These forms, taken from folklore, had been covered with jute, cloth or paper and painted over. I wanted to work with bamboo alone but I didn't, then get the approval of my friends like Saleh and Shakawat. I waited for the help of my friends, Juise, Shakawat and Saleh, who were all necessary for a major venture in bamboo sculpture.'

In 1993, Kajol along with his colleagues went to Denmark on his concept. The origin of the effort were the folk toy figures but the presentations were on a large scale. The bamboo bars were interwoven then with bamboo strips as has been seen in the present display at the British Council. As one uses more strips, the sculpture becomes more solid. The inside of the rounded form remains hollow. This had culminated in an exhibition at Vesterbro Cultural Week at Copenhagen, along with a carnival held later in the city.

Kajol had experimented further with bamboo sculpture at an international workshop Oulu in Finland. People had watched how it was done in 15 days and it was then placed on a water fountain made by another European artist for a 4-month display.

Much later, after many overseas projects with bamboo sculpture, where Kajol aimed at the modern rather than the naïve slant, in 2003, in Images of Asia in Denmark he again went in for his latest passion for bamboo sculpture, complete with a set stage scene where Shakawat Hussain, Saleh and Imran Hussain (member of Britto) were present. The Air Bash, seen at BC premises carried out the same concept of working together with artists friends in Bangladesh. The displays is Kajol and his colleagues' dream fulfillment of nearly 15 years, as he puts it.

Asked about the problems that he faced in carrying out the present bamboo sculpture show at BC gardens, one was told about internal problems that thwarted an earlier scheduled presentation at the National Museum or the Public Library. Kajol claimed that his artist colleagues in Bangladesh were supposed to have done all the ground work for the bamboo sculptures. Coming on 22nd February, this year, Kajol's own attention was diverted in the project of mural painting in Bangladeshi village schools and buildings. Facing much frustration, eventually meeting up with June Rollinson, Director of the British Council, during Tareq Masud's film show, the Director saw photographs of Kajol's experiments in Denmark, and getting the consent of his artist co-mates like Saidul Haque Juise he sailed forth with the bamboo sculpture exhibition .

The British Council and University of Development Alternative (UODA) sponsored a number of elements that went into the final presentation of the endeavour that involved skill and imagination of both the artists and craftsmen. Kajol, his co-artists and the artisans began work at Gafarganj. Some of the bamboo strips were prepared in the village but putting together of the sculpture pieces was done in the British Council gardens. This took 13 days, working from morning till beyond midnight at times.

The result is vraiment superb -- specially by night. In the evening, as Kajol puts it, there is another dimension to this sculpture display. Nasirul Haq, working as the lighting designer for Nagorik, helped with the ethereal lighting effect.