“Reincarnated Valiance of Durjoy” at EMK Center

“Reincarnated valiance of Durjoy” a solo exhibition by artist Firoz Mahmud, is currently on in Dhanmondi's EMK Center. The artworks were created using various media related to Freedom Fighters who valiantly fought in the Liberation War. The exhibition consists of photography, video, sculpture, installation and special paintings -- that used blood donated by Freedom Fighters as paint.

One segment of the research was Freedom Fighters who were wounded and lost their limbs during the Liberation War. Another segment is based on the anecdotes of Freedom Fighters from the village Danga Palash in Narsingdi Zilla.

The artist was inspired to create the artworks, by several of his uncles who participated in the War. In the works, the Freedom Fighters described how they fought Pakistani soldiers during war. In 2016, they reincarnated their memory of 1971 of brandishing riffles, how they fought, protected their village and discreetly formulated their plans. The documents of video and photographs showed their old photos during war, letters written to families and diaries. Firoz Mahmud considers this series as 'pure reality from realistic life in the war'.

The blood paintings are significant works in the exhibition. The artist made the paintings of triumphant moments in Bangladesh's War of Independence, with blood collected from Freedom Fighters. The Freedom Fighters' valor and sacrifices are symbolised in the works. The other works also display the artist's unique presentation, particularly where photographs are presented in frames made of old electric meters.

Firoz Mahmud is known for large-scale artworks and long-running art projects, which include installation, layapa stencil paintings, drawing photographs -- most significantly in “NinKi: Urgency of Proximate Drawing” -- objects, and mixed media. Firoz studied from Dhaka University`s Faculty of Fine Arts, and then did MFA from Tama Art University, Tokyo and PhD from Tokyo University of the Arts.