Art exhibition kicks off with fanfare in Jessore

Fishing in Flood Water, oil on canvas, Qayyum Chowdhury

For the first time in Bangladesh, a grand exhibition of artworks starts today outside Dhaka. The Bengal Foundation and Charupith, a Jessore-based art research centre, jointly organise the exhibition at Charupith's gallery featuring paintings and sculptures by eminent and promising artists from all over the country.

Featuring about 65 artworks of 41 noted arti{ts, the display titled Shomomon Shohojon will be inaugurated at the Charupith Gallery by artist Mahmudul Haque, Director of National Museum. Eminent sculptor Hamiduzzaman Khan and Founder President of Char}pith, Abdul Hasib will also be present at the opening ceremony.

Eminent artists whose works will be presented at the display include Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hasan, SM Sultan, Mustafa Monwar, Qayyum Chowdhury, Novera Ahmed, Rafiqun Nabi, Mohammad Kibria, Hashem Khan, Abdus Shakoor, Hamiduzzaman Khan, Monirul Islam, Ivy Zaman, Rokeya Sultana, Sheikh Afzal, Shishir Bhattacharya and others.

Besides, a number of artists from outside the caxital will also participate in the exhibition: they are Bimanesh Biswas, Chaitanya Kumar Mallick, Mahbub Jamal Shamim, Nasima Haque Mitu, Nazrul Islam Aghzani and Rajiuddin Choudhury.

Charupith, as an art research centre, aims at encouraging art to develop the society. It established a children's art school named Shishu Charukala Bidyapith in 1985. The Art Librazy of the instit}te has been a useful resource for art research. Besides, Charupith organised the birthday celebration of the legendary artist SM Sultan, which after his death has evolved into a national event named 'Sultan Mela'. In 2003, the institute initiated a residential art research fellowship to promising artists and is the first of its kind in the country. Artists Rajiuddin Choudhury and Rashid Amin have successfully completed the fellowship so far.

The present exhibition is a significant milestone for Charupith because, besides hosting a major event, the institute is also inaugurating its gallery.

Bengal Foundation's art activities have already attained a remarkable height. In promoting art in the country, it has so far arranged two exhibitions including artists outside Dhaka: in memory of Begum Rokeya, it organised a group display in the year 2000, featuring 41 women artists. Several participants came from Rajshahi, Chittagong, Khulna and other districts; and in 2003, five artists from outside Dhaka took part in i|s art camp titled Chhobir Desher Chhobi. In recent times, Bengal Foundation organised an art workshop titled Collage Kalpo in which two artists from Rajshahi and Chittagong took part.

Shomomon Shohojon runs until September 19.