A promising print-maker

An erotic theme could be seen in the presentation of the twisted forms of tree roots in Organic.

Tracing his origin on how he made his way from his village home in Mymensingh, which is adjacent to the Garo Hills, Alam said that his father, M Suroj Mia, who once worked at a Kolkata university, comprehended art quite well; and who, incidentally, was also an active politician. "My father," Alam said, "wrote on tribal life and won an award from the Tribal Association at Chittagong. Being the son of a creative individual I got all the incentive to study at the Fine Arts Institute, DU, doing illustrations and portraits. I had done this before with my father, in connection with numerous commissioned work such as sign painting. I also sculpted, inspired by 'puja mandal' creations and some felt that I might eventually go into that genre. When I was eight-year-old, I loved making lions in particular. My art student years began in 1988, which were very lonely and full of political upheavals of the time of President Ershad. There was naturally very little peace and harmony at that time. There were the 'session jams' as well."

However, he overcame the difficulties and got a first class in print-making in his Honours in 1994. It was 14 years before students such as Alam and his contemporary, Anisuzzaman, got a first class in print-making after Rokeya Sultana: Anis proceed to Rabindrabharati and Alam went to Santiniketan. This was on ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relationship) scholarship.

While at Santiniketan, Alam learnt to break past the academic confines that he had been subjected to earlier. This, he believes was due greatly to his aesthetic and dream-like environment, full of flora and fauna. The "Rabindrasangeet" that he heard there also inspired him. He had the opportunity to listen to the classical performances of Ustad Ravi Sankar and Lata Mungeshkar; personalities such as M Fida Hussain gave him opportunities to exchange views. His teachers such as Sanat Kar and Lalu Prasad Sao never kept him at an arm's distance. As he had come from Bangladesh where they too had their links, they treated him with tender care and camaraderie. They had a high opinion of "jari" and "shari" of and the folk elements Mymensingh like the "nakshikantha" and "tepa putul" (folk dolls) that are found there. " For these reasons they took special care of me. Whatever you see in my work was 'thrust upon' me by my teachers, specially Sanat Kar. I had to cross from the idees fixes to abstractions of a high standard ."

Alam's teachers taught him to see shapes and symbols in simple elements like stones and leaves. In "Form of Plato", a lithograph e.g., the artist has presented a stone in which he has presented the suggestion of a living being. In another print one saw a dry leaf with texture work around it in black and beige, with a dotted effect superimposed on that. Here, said Alam, he has focused on a central light symbolising both nature in particular, and joie de vivre in general. The link between man and nature had been brought in the visage that one could perceive in that single leaf.

An erotic theme could be seen in the presentation of the twisted forms of tree roots in the next display. The entwining male and female figures were obviously inspired from the overt sensuality, which Alam had been surrounded by, as he explained passionately. This was inspired by Indian dances and his surrounding atmosphere. Nature, once again, had been included in "Touch of feelings". This has brought in the innumerable owls that one can see at Santiniketan. This contained lithograph washes, reverse and more complex technicalities of print-making. The presented green, beige and black impressionistic images and in it the artist wished to symbolise also the link between a print-maker and his tools.

Alam's exhibition which was both mind-boggling and mind-expanding pleased the critiques, connoisseurs and the average gallery visitors. One has great expectations from such an artist.