Winners of the awards seen with the organisers (Top). Artworks by Rasel Kanti Das, Purnima Mitra and Ruhul Amin Tarek (Bottom).

The award ceremony for 17th Berger Young Painters' Art Competition (BYPAC) was held on December 10 at Winter Garden, Hotel Ruposhi Bangla in Dhaka. Rupali Chowdhury, managing director of Berger Paints Ltd, inaugurated the event. In her speech, she said, “Berger Young Painters' Art Competition is one of the significant events in our cultural scene. BYPAC is a platform that recognises young artists and offers them exposure at national level. Berger hopes that this recognition will inspire young talents to work harder and bring pride and glory for the nation.”
Young Bangladeshi painters are now experimenting with new techniques and themes. The themes range from the political, economical crises to national and international issues.
Observing the works at the 'Berger exhibition' closely, the themes come across as remarkable and relatable. Social injustice, bigotry, inequality, population growth, deforestation, everyday bliss and woes are some of the prevalent themes. Geometric shapes and architectural are other aspects of the paintings. In their works, the young artists have brought about many symbols and signs of their expressions, denoting realism, super realism or photo-realism, abstraction, semi-realism, abstract expressionism, surrealism and neo-expressionism.
A number of photo-realistic works demonstrate the young painters' contemplative and meditative views. This medium is often used in Western and African art. However, scenic beauty is absent in the works of these Bangladeshi artists. Of late, social issues have replaced landscapes.
The first phase of the award giving ceremony saw the Lifetime Achievement Award going to noted painter Abu Taher. Taher is one of the senior-most and acclaimed painters of the country. His immense contribution and dedication to Bangladeshi art assisted him to attain his current honourable position. The lifetime achievement crest was given to him by noted painter Quayyum Chowdhury.
Taher said, “I am elated. I appreciate the initiative that Berger has taken.”
The competition received 563 paintings this year.
Rasel Kanti Das received Taka one lakh as part of the first prize; Purnima Mitra received Taka 75,000 as part of second prize; Ruhul Amin Tarek received Taka 50,000 as part of the third position. The 4th, 5th and 6th prizes went to Faisal Ahmed Mahfuz, Ahsan Mahtab and Abdullah Al Bashir respectively; each received Taka 40,000.
The winners received cheques and certificates from the chairman of the jury committee, Quayyum Chowdhury, and Rupali Chowdhury.
Berger Paints also organised painting competition for autistic children, for the second time. In this competition the winners of first, second and third position are: from group “A”, Kazi Inteser Fayed, Tamim Ibne Aris and Md. Tamjid Hossain; from group “B”, Adiba Ibnat, Farhan Syed Tanisha and Ahnaf Tahmid Khan. Veteran artist Rafiqun Nabi handed over the prize money and certificates to the winners of these two groups.
At the programme, Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited honoured five young achievers of our country. Among them were: Nishat Majumder and MA Muhit who climbed to the peak of Mount Everest. From Bangladesh, Dhananjoy Biswas, Sourav Das and Nur Muhammad Shafiullah had won medals at the 53rd International Mathematical Olympiad 2012; they received accolades from Berger Paints as well.
The ceremony was followed by musical performances by Ronty Das and Mahdi.
Including the six award winning paintings, Berger Paints has also organised an exhibition of 40 nominated paintings at Zainul Gallery, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka. The exhibition opened yesterday and will continue till December 15.