The streets of Dhaka on canvas

Joloj, a group art exhibition that had its first show in December 2015, launched its fourth installment at Alliance Française de Dhaka on November 9. For the first time, they have centered the exhibition on a specific theme, as conveyed by its title, Streets of Dhaka (Dhakar Rasta).  The artists picked Joloj, which translates to aquatic, as the group name since their work is tied together by their chosen medium of watercolour.

The artists set out to portray the capital city by drawing pictures as they walked through the streets. Subsequently, all the exhibited artworks maintain a size of ten by ten inches, which is convenient and easy to carry on the go.  The approaches of the artists are truly reflected in their work, as all the paintings seem to have encased an image that any one of us could have glanced at while on foot or on wheels in the streets of Dhaka.

While the group makes apparent their cohesion, whether in mindset, perspective or friendship, there are many aspects setting each of them apart. Golam Moshiur Rahman manages to evoke emotion in the viewers by the portrayal of light and the way he makes it dance around in his paintings in ranges of warm hues. Sadek Ahmed stays the farthest from realism with a more stylistic approach and the use of Bangla texts in the background of his paintings.

The subjects of the artworks include rickshaws, autorickshaws, buses, mosques, buildings and familiar locations such as New Market, Gausia, Nabisco Mor, Shapla Chottor and High Court. Some of the paintings may very well take the viewers on trips down memory lane, making them nostalgic for a Dhaka that only once was. Many of the artworks seem to be recognisably Dhaka, yet from a different time - the buildings shown are refreshingly more characteristic of South Asia than most of the apartments being built and lived in today.

The theme, Streets of Dhaka, reminds us of the beauty that exists around us, should we choose to acknowledge it. It also makes us reflect on what we have known and loved Dhaka for and whether we have been able to sustain much of that as we speed towards new heights in development and modernisation. The exhibition will run till November 24.