6th Oriental Painting Exhibition opens today
The 6th Oriental Painting Exhibition 2016, organised by Oriental Painting Study Group (OPSG) in association with The Daily Star and the Department of Oriental Art, University of Dhaka, opens today (November 8) at 3pm at Zainul Gallery, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. The exhibition, opening from 11am to 8pm daily, will continue till November 13.
Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor, University of Dhaka, will attend the inaugural ceremony as chief guest while Abul Khair, Chairman of Bengal Foundation, will grace the occasion as special guest. Renowned art critic Moinuddin Khaled; art connoisseur Mikhail I. Islam; Sharad Dugar, Curator, Gallery Images and Beyond, Kolkata India and noted Indian artist Samir Roy will be present as honourable guests at the programme.
To motivate current students of the Department of Oriental Art, University of Dhaka (DU) and Faculty of Fine Arts (Oriental Art Discipline), Rajshahi University (RU), OPSG has launched Oriental Painting Awards this year. OPSG will confer five awards worth Taka one lakh on young artists among the 26 participating students from DU and RU. OPSG is also organising a five-day (November 9-13) Oriental wash painting workshop, conducted by noted Indian artist Swapan Das, at the Department of Oriental Art, DU. Besides, the group is also launching a website that will work as a global platform for displaying oriental paintings by artists of the country and beyond.
A total of 83 artworks by 77 artists, including 37 Bangladeshi and 14 Indian artists along with selective oriental works submitted by the current students of DU and RU will be on display at the show.
The exhibited artworks range from elements found in nature to human figures and portraits, landscapes, contemporary reality, mythical nuances, feminine grace, cultural heritage and abstract pieces. A Bengali calligraphic work coupled with a Mughal miniature work will be showcased at the exhibit. Wash technique, one of the signature styles of the Neo-Bengal School of oriental painting, is evident in the artworks while the use of vivid colours and smooth strokes are also visible in the works. The exhibition presents works on diverse art media like tempera, watercolour on silk, gouache, acrylic on canvas and paper, print, oxide charcoal on board and etching.
Artworks by the noted and promising Bangladeshi artists – Professor Abdus Satter, Shawkatuzzamn, Dr. Rashid Amin, Afroza Jamil Kanka, Dr. Sushanta Kumar Adhikary, Dr. Malay Bala, Kantideb Adhikary, Shankar Majumder, Suman Baidya, Amit Nandi, Dipti Datta, Zahangir Alom and others will be on display at the exhibit.
Some 14 renowned Indian artists are also taking part in the exhibition, including Gopal Ghosh, Haren Das, Indra Dugar, Manindra Bhushan Gupta, Maniklal Banerjee, Mrinal Kanti Das, Anuradha Gayen, Sameer Ray and Swapan Das.
The artworks, being displayed at the exhibition, have conspicuous connotations and reverberation of the opulent heritage and trend of oriental painting style. The purpose of holding this exhibition is to inspire both artists and art connoisseurs in searching their cultural roots and to nurture their very own art heritage.