Pathfinders in print making

Tin Kannya by Qumrul Hassan

Mohammed Kibria had a rectangle in gray surrounded by forms -- circles, discs and squares -- that were suggested. One side of the rectangle had diagonal lines. The work was bluish black and gray. "In memory of '71", an engraving by Shafiuddin Ahmed had a collection of weeping eyes, done in pen, on a background of pale brown and beige.

Monirul Islam's etchings, "Shadows of the world", "Burning desire" and "Tears on the snow" had alphabets in Bangla and English along with green and black forms. Another one had a circle of orange, a black square, a splash of red, dots and other wriggling forms. This was on embossed paper. The third composition had abundant water-colour washes in blue, gray and black. Shahid Kabir in his "Homage to F G Lorca" had brought in the bright blue river in which his body had been flung after being shot dead during the Spanish Civil War. Orange groves were brought at the two sides to romanticise the image.

Wakilur Rahman had abstracts, "The beginning of creation" having a big circle in brown and blue. "Words" had alphabets scattered through it with pigments of brown, orange and green on a pink background, while "Dream text" which had writings in Bangla with blood red splashes on top and bottom. Mokhlisur Rahman had "Rainy season", a woodcut, in which he had brought "kodom" flowers laced in rainy clouds. The blossoms were white, couched in beige and blue. The encircling, curling clouds were blue, black and brown. "Shaymoli ma" presented acres of green fields surrounded by wet paths, combining land masses with ones of water. Sometimes the colours were transparent and at others opaque.

Mahmudul Haque's work had a cross in the centre with etching work all around forming a bigger image. In another of his compositions one found a rectangle in gray, surrounded by strips of white on a background of white. His last work had a mass of black, with texture work on it, placed on a backdrop of gray, white and black.

Abdus Sattar's print had a flower bud on dull green with a circle around it. There were scattered bits like torn fragments of paper surrounding it. There was a semicircle which he had used as his signature to make the composition strong and balanced. In the other one he had a tiny replica of the Savar freedom monument which was surrounded by three rose buds. At the bottom and top were bars which had lettering and motifs of birds and animals. "Seeing them the viewer can comprehend that the work originated from Bangladesh", Sattar pointed out. "When I was working as a Fullbright scholar in USA my semicircular form was adopted by many in their work," he added. Talking on the place of Bangladesh in the art world, he said, "It is only about 50 years old. There has not been all that much of remarkable print work in our country but whatever there has been is comparable with others from different parts of the world. Among the pioneers was Habibur Rahman who did remarkable work in woodcut but who has not been exposed properly. It was Monirul Islam who made Bangladeshi prints famous all over the world and told people like me and Rafiqun Nabi where to send prints for the international venue."

The four works by Rokeya Sultana were based on her recent Paris experience. The etchings like "Paris" and "Radha" which brought in families crossing in boat and woman with a bird. "Relation" brought in three women. The last, "Madonna", had the all time favourite mother and child theme. Rokea said, "I worked in a studio with one of the best of facilities. I hadn't worked in copper plate before." The figures appeared more simplified and minimized than before.

One of Rafi Haque's lithographs contained a human hand with rectangles in orange and yellow with a fragment of a scene from Hiroshima at the bottom. More such Japanese images are there in another one in gray and blue, purple and orange, which was scratched over with splashes of black on top. Another had a rectangle in dark red, a section in orange and others in blue and sepia. They were covered with more black splashes that had the impression of Japanese calligraphy.

The works by Rasheed Amin had been done at Jessore where he had gone on a fellowship. They were based on nature and elements like trees, leaves and the peaceful atmosphere that they evoked had been brought into the prints. A lot of dark colours had been used to suggest loneliness which was what the artist had experienced in that isolated place.

The exhibition of the work of 30 artists was indeed a feast of prints, where styles and techniques fascinated one for hours.