Art in Nature

At Dhaka Art Centre from September 5-11, viewers got to see mind-boggling photographs by Shafiqur Rahman. The photojournalist has found sculpture in rejected automobile parts and rickshaws, and has shown them as rusty, broken bits, being carried away by scavengers. This aspect of seeing beauty in rejects of machines, medical utility parts used by CRP was seen decades back in an exhibition at the Bengal Gallery, by Arhamul Huq Chowdhury. The photographs taken by Shafiqur Rahman portray remnants of four-wheel drives, reject private cars, and rickshaws with the beauty of rickshaw painters' arts of actors decorating its' backs -- rusted with time, they can now be seen as sculpture pieces.

The first work is on Fujicolor Crystal archiving paper. There are cars camouflaged all over, covered by leaves and creepers growing all over. There are small bushes on the six cars, growing in Nature's harmony. There are beautiful trees growing all around. The blue and red cars are covered by trailing branches.

Another picture also shows harmony and beauty of camouflage. There are three cars at the sides, while behind are new cars -- which belong to visitors at the park. Dry banana leaves, branches of leaves, trailers make for a peaceful setting.

“Discarded” is done on crystal archive paper. Between banana trees and creepers is a part of a red car.  “Spent life” is seen a part of a yellow truck which is covered with trailers. Behind through the mêlée of the green overgrowth is a man, maybe working at something. “Shattered” is an image of cars that are broken and rejected. The handles, tyres, and body are all that are left. The wall against which the cars are seen is also covered with rust. There is an iron rod in the fore ground. Everything in view is eaten up by iron-oxide.

In another picture, a broken car is seen, rejected and dejected. The leaves on the trees are exquisite samples of the growth of Nature, in wilderness. “Light and Shade” has a rejected rickshaw, and resting against it is an old discarded blue topped jeep -- both covered by green as well as dried leaves. “Hide and Seek” has a rickshaw with its back cover, once upon a time painted over with heroes and villains of the cinema. These have moustaches, earrings while a third woman is also there. There are remnants of buses too with their stripes of blue, yellow and red.

We have then the photo titled “Anudeep” which includes a leftover Anudeep taxi cab. There are four rickshaws in the heap, forming a form of metal statuary. A part of rickshaw is covered with fresh emerald green leaves.  “Sculpture” with scraped off paints, old tyres, rusty handlebars and worn-off seats form an amazing metal creation. Against the rejects, there are the tall contrasting multi-stories at the back. The blue sky forms the promise of a happy tomorrow in the picture -- such is the artist's optimism.