Music as muse to the creation of art

Music has a mesmerising power to connect souls. When melody is an inspiring muse for artists, it truly creates an artistic ambience. This was evident at a recently concluded art camp at the 10-day (February 22-March 3) Bengal Sangskriti Utshab Sylhet 2017. 

The festival, dedicated to Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq, offered an array of cultural elements and performances like song, instrumental recital, dance, recitation, theatre and film. Alongside, the grand scale festival had an art camp participated by prominent and promising Bangladeshi artists,  craft fair displaying the traditional crafts of Bangladesh, literary conference,  symposium on architecture titled “Agamir Sylhet” and a display of traditional musical instruments and architectural designs and maps of Sylhet and Dhaka.

“The purpose of the art camp was to connect artists so that they could express their artistic feelings freely .The art camp was placed just beside the main stage called Hason Raja Mancha so that the artists could carry on their work inspired by the melodic ambience. The artists enjoyed the camp very much and so did the audience who closely observed  art in the making,” said Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury, Head of Operations, Visual Arts Programme of Bengal Foundation.

The theme of the art camp was open. Artists portrayed the rich cultural aspects of Sylhet, the essence of folk music, portraits of the mystic bards, the unparalleled natural beauty and landscapes of the region including Lala Khal, the threads of nakshikantha, the innocence of childhood, the searching of the soul, the rhythm of musical lines, abstract and semi-abstract paintings and more.

 “A total of 28 artists joined the art camp in three phases and they portrayed 53 artworks. The general audience enjoyed watching the country's famous painters at work; it was a rare privilege for them,” added Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury.     

The participating artists at the art camp were Mustafa Monowar, Rafiqun Nabi Abul Barq Alvi, Hashem Khan, Monirul Islam, Nisar Hossain, Abdus Shakoor Shah, Shahid Kabir, Mahmudul Haque, Shishir Bhattacharjee, Rokeya Sultana, Nazlee Laila Mansur, Ranjit Das, Jamal Ahmed, Dhali Al Mamoon, Mohammad Iqbal, Maksuda Iqbal Nipa, Dilara Begum Jolly, Rezaun Nabi, Mahbubur Rahman, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Sahid Kazi, Abdullah Al Bashir, Bipasha Hayat, Fahamida Enam Kakoli, Bishwajit Goswami, Najmun Nahar Keya and Yasmin Jahan Nupur.

This correspondent too depicted lyrical rhythms on an acrylic canvas inspired by the melodic proceedings on stage.