High among the hills

Marisha by Sadek Ahmed

Rashed Kamal says, "We had gone camping to Khagrachhari for nine days. This exhibition is the outcome of this trip. I'm in Masters, first part; three of the others are in third year; and the last is in the fourth year. We had booked the gallery in advance. We faced problems when we went. At first there was the fear of kidnapping; but when the local people learnt about the seriousness of our endeavour, they went out of their way to help us. There were beautiful spots there like Marisha, Dighinala, Kachalong River and Machalong Para which inspired us."

In Kamal's work there are trees in front and at the back. People are seen crossing a bridge. He has used mostly green, yellow ochre and burnt sienna. In another of his painting are the houses on bamboo stilts on the hills. A lot of space has been left empty on the paper, which lends freshness to the work.

In Adnan Sufian's work the artist has tried to present the way of life of the Hill Tracts people, especially their homes and clothes. "The destination of these people with heavy baskets on their backs was to places where we wouldn't dare to go," says Sufian. In one of his works he has depicted one such woman, calmly climbing the hills, with others following her. His other watercolours similarly delineate the local women going about their work among the hillocks. In one piece in particular, Sufian depicts the Murong's abode on the steep hills. The watercolour piece has minimal strokes and is done with brown and green strokes. Sufian says that his passion for watercolours goes back to his childhood days.

Sadek Ahmed enjoys doing light and shade work. In his Marisha there is a play of texture. With simple sweeps and blotches, he has brought in the surrounding atmosphere and placed the people going about their work, carrying loads hung from their shoulders. The colours that he has used are contrast shades such as yellow and purple.

Tulaban, by Akhamul Haque, shows houses with thatched huts in a forest clearing. Commenting about his experience in the Hill Tracts, Akhamul says, "The hill people are peace loving and simple. The pahari people helped us and invited us to their homes, giving us food. Through our tour, we wanted to create artistic works that would delight our viewers and give them an exposure to untouched nature which they don't usually have access to. We haven't been experimental: we've simply delineated nature's beauty."

The young artists have exhibited their works in Japan too, apart from taking part in other joint exhibits.