Fixing images in a frame

"I had four workshops here in Dhaka with adults and children. In them the students cut images in paper for the illustrations. This was quicker than painting on the colours. Illustration is not like ordinary painting. You have to fix certain images in a frame in a particular way in order to tell a story. There was a young Bangladeshi artist, Arup, who understood French, and he helped conduct the classes. I had the opportunity to meet some Bangladeshi painters and I found their work very interesting and impressive."

One of his book covers, of Mawati--child of the desert shows a lion, a goat, and a starving woman. This depicts the story of an African boy who was chased out of his village during a drought. He went through the desert with three goats, and finally found a place to settle in peace. Tales of Europe relates the story of the Middle Ages when a musician was sent to jail. He cast a spell on the people with the music of his lute and so won his freedom. Another illustration is that of a Yugoslavian story, which is about a village where the people were constantly quarrelling.

Marc's other creative work was entirely allegoric. There was the image of a headless man with a bird on his shoulders. The perched bird was singing gleefully and this painting was meant to be a self- portrait. Another work brought a soldier in an armour from the past. He had no hands and with him was a snail that has no horns. The snail stood for the poor while the soldier symbolised the rich: both were helpless. There was then Mickey Mouse with a camera, and he represented people who thought that life was like stories presented on TV and films.

The French Association for Artistic Initiatives organised this exhibition along with the works of 12 other French artists. This presented the works of illustrators whose works were recently published in France. They came from different backgrounds like the School of Fine Arts, Decorative Arts and some are self-taught. They work in France and for foreign markets.