Arabinda Das Gupta’s virtual art exhibition underway

Plabone Shwapan Buni (Sowing dreams in cataclysm), the fourth solo exhibition of painter Arabinda Das Gupta, inaugurated virtually on Tuesday.

The ten-day exhibition is organised by Shah Alam Gallery of Fine Art. Anyone could visit and purchase paintings at bit.ly/arabinda. A total of 63 paintings, including drawing sketches, mixed media and watercolour works, represent the loss of social values, romanticism, landscape, science and many other things.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr A K Abdul Momen inaugurated the exhibition in the video conference while painter Jamal Ahmed, Professor of the Faculty of Fine Art in Dhaka University, was the keynote speaker.

Harold Rasheed, painter and chief patron of the gallery, presided the inaugural session where many other notable persons attended.

 "In Europe, almost everyone knows about their legendary painters but here, the people in the grassroots are unaware of names like Zainul Abedin or Quamrul Hasan," said the minister. "These days, painters are in distress and everyone should come forward to revive their former glory. I'll do my best to support any initiative taken for the painters."

 "There is no art institute or college in Sylhet, no art gallery with modern facilities. I always wished for a proper art college in Sylhet, and hope an initiative will be taken soon," asserted Arabinda, a reticent painter and art teacher.

Arabinda prefers to stay away from the limelight. His previous exhibitions were arranged in 1980, 2002 and 2016. He was born in Habiganj in 1953 and brought up in Sylhet. He completed his graduation from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Dhaka University (then called Bangladesh Institute of Arts and Crafts) in 1976.