Exquisite, Enigmatic Calligraphy
Group art exhibition at Zainul Gallery
(Clockwise from top-left): Calligraphies by Faiza Sharzana, Hasan Morshed, Amit Nandi and Rubina Islam.
Starting from May 2, a six-day group calligraphy exhibition was held at Zainul Gallery, Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), Dhaka University. Dean of FFA, Professor Emdadul Haque Mohammad Matlub Ali, inaugurated the exhibition. Chairman of the department of Oriental Art, Professor Abdus Satter, was a special guest at the opening.
The exhibition featured 36 artworks by members of 'Oriental Painting Study Group', comprising of three teachers -- G.C. Trivedi, Malay Bala, Kantideb Adhikary -- and 21 students of department of Oriental Art, FFA. Students' works were done in watercolour.
Though the focus was primarily on calligraphy, a viewer could have been confused as the works tried to include much more. Hasan Morshed's canvas, for instance, had several dancing female figures around the saying "Ekti gachh-er porichoy phol-er dara pawa jaye, patar dara noy".
On Rabindranath Tagore's portrait, on paper (mixed media), G.C. Trivedi has placed verses of Kobiguru, including "Shatyo je kothin, kothinerey bhalobashilam, shey kokhono korena bonchona". Malay Bala has articulated the symbol "Om" on acrylic. Deft use of colour helped express the artist's devotion to the eternal soul. Sharifun Nessa Ankhi has chosen Arabic calligraphy (Sura Fatiha) as the subject of her work.
With the writing "Prachya Chitrakala", Kantideb Adhikari's painting sites Tagore's views on art (on acrylic). Gopal Chandra Saha and Amit Nandi's depiction of romantic excerpts from "Charyapada" deserve praise. Mihir Moshiur's portrayal of a wreath with the line "Ami kothaye pabo taarey, amar moner manush jerey" [a Gagan Harkara song] is evocative.
Tahmina Binta Kabir Koli, Faiza Sharzana and Sushmita Saha chose to work with the same poetic life-lesson: "Shobar uporey manush shotyo tahar uporey nai" [written by Chandidas]. Sabrina Akter Lima, Rubina Islam and Julia Yousuf Shohely presented excerpts from Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Kamini Roy respectively in their artworks.
Other participating artists were Sumon Baidya, Jakaria Islam, Mohosin Kabir, Iskandar Mirza, Tanjima Tabassum Easha, Irin Sultana Liza, Sharmin Aktar, Hossen Ali, Lubna Yesmin Bithi and Shammi Jahan Mou.