Shimul's “Emotion of Sufi Music” opens at AFD

Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) has organised a solo painting exhibition titled “Emotion of Sufi Music” by artist AZ Shimul at its La Galerie.

Sophie Aubert, Ambassador of France to Bangladesh, as chief guest, inaugurated the show on March 24. Farida Parveen, Ekushey Padak winning singer, and Dr Pierre-Alain Baud, Sufi music researcher and writer, attended the occasion as special guests.

Coming from a Sufi family, AZ Shimul has been driven by the thoughts and philosophies of Sufism since his early years. He is also inspired by mysticism that depicts the belief of unison with the Absolute. Shimul believes that the spiritual apprehension of knowledge, apparently inaccessible to the intellect, may be attained through contemplation and self-surrender.

The artist's paintings embody mysticism that itself entails a different kind of humanistic feeling and sensation where music plays a vital role. “The world beyond the general sense is the world of immortal love that provides meaning for so-called mystical and visionary experiences, and related experiences like trances. Mystic poets, bards and musicians like Rumi, Lalon and Alfu Dewan are the believers of such thought,” according to Shimul.  His paintings incorporate his beliefs and understanding of the teachings by Rumi and Lalon, and exhibit a rare beauty of motion and emotion that is mellifluous in nature.

The exhibition, open from Monday to Thursday (from 3pm to 9pm) and on Fridays and Saturdays (from 9am to12noon and from 5pm to 8pm), will conclude on March 31.