Bruno Ruhf and his daring drawings
Bruno is content with what he sees around him and apparently has been enjoying his stay in Dhaka for six months now. Is he blasé with the urban fare? Certainly not, going by his accounts of visiting the film shows, art galleries and the cafes that he finds around him. There is not the humdrum of more developed cities of the west, that he is used to; and the jerrybuilding around him in Dhaka does not make him feel claustrophobic at all. He has made friends in the art and cultural world and is pleased with living here.
He has chosen to depict his thoughts and feelings in gray crayon, in order to gently capture the life around him. He has let his imagination flow free, keeping in mind the lilting images around him of human forms, nature, still life, landscape and various other images of fine art. He has amalgamated them on pieces of paper, having stuck them in his small studio at Strasbourg. He has apparently won many admirers, judging by the flow of viewers at the opening of his exhibit on the weekend. The gallery goers had included not only expatriates but also local connoisseurs and eager buyers. The price tags were not steep and thus the ready collectors. Since the small frames suited our crammed urban flats the size factor added to the appeal.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Asked to give his opinion of the state of art in Bangladesh, he said that he felt that the artists, including the senior ones like Rafiqun Nabi, Ranjit Das and Rokeya Sultana, were doing their best to express their thoughts and feelings in their work. He said that they were mixing the art lessons from the east and west, making the combination a superb blend of the best of both the worlds. He had not limited himself to fine art but had gone ahead to sample our flavour of music, dancing, theatre and literature.
Being amicable by nature, he is open to the views of the local people. He admires the women's figures, their saris and their bejewelled embellishment, and hopes to include their doe eyes and flowing long hair in his future compositions. At times he finds our curries somewhat hot, but he takes his culinary adventures with a broad smile and twinkling eyes.
This French artist with unusual aplomb deserves our accolades.