Showcasing artistic talent

Gypsy girl by Jamal Ahmed

Mohammed Eunus's work , Restoration of civilisation, that won the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award, is a mass of gray and umber swirls and curls, that stand for the wreckage of civilisation, which has to be put together. The image looks like the back of a modern machine where the wires have been pulled out and have to be reassembled .

The Arab Bangladesh Award goes to Farouk Ahmad's Composition-1 which has details of motifs of flowers with their stems and flower pots. These appear to have been pieced together as in a careful collage of burnt umber and yellow ochre set on white.

The Bengal Foundation Award went to Ahmed Shamsuddoha with his Civilisation, which presents a handful of fruit-like images, complete with stem and leaves , resting on a sheet of paper.

The Dipa Haq Award went to Jamal Ahmed's Gypsy girl. This sketch of a woman, complete with ornaments, standing against her barge, done in a sketch is eye-catching indeed. The realistic work wins the heart of those who are blasé with the everyday profusion of abstractions. Ahmed Nazir's The war file-2 talks of degradation, death and ruination. It shows charts of pulse rates and X-ray images of the injured and dying during the 1971 holocaust. This won an honourable mention. Another such award was won by Sudipta Mallick, Sweden with his wooden masks Sunk-1, and Bipul Shah with his Exercise in wreckage 1. The sculpture work of Magic of life by Md Mahmudul Hasan got the Grameen Phone Award

Abdus Sattar's Three maidens is a presentation of beautiful women with voluptuous figures and flowing garments in shades of yellow and brown. It reminds one of Chughtai's idyllic portraitures. Abdus Shakoor's Ballad and faces has women's faces in shades of blue and black, framed by bars of scroll writing bearing folk poetry. Sheikh Afzal's Painting-1 depicts the delightful image of a seated woman in a pale saffron sari, tying up her hair. It has images of seated children in the backdrop.

Fareha Zeba's Self confidence-1 has women's emancipation as its primary slant. Kazi Salahuddin Ahmed's Urban Site-29 depicts the city in an aerial view, where the roads are serpentine black while the buildings are like bright geometrical shapes -- crying out for attention and placed in a rectangular frame. Kuhu's Anticipation focuses on a woman waiting by the window, waiting either for a client (as the artist often deals with sex workers) or just her beloved coming home from work. Kanak Chanpa Chakma's Fishing ushers in the fog and mist in the Hill Tracts ,with women trapping fish in the water with their baskets. The painting appears like stripes of black and midnight blue with traces of lines that give the details of the figures and the woods beyond.

Ivy Zaman's Steps of life is a creation with undoubted mystery and imagination , where one is confronted with blue footprints that circle a white dome. Another highly imaginative creation is the sculpture by Rajaul Islam Lovelu, with its twirling, gliding and swirling lines of carved wooden figure depicting a maiden in the woods. Nazlee Laila Mansur's Untitled is a surrealistic creation with raw colours and conventional images mixed with her own creations in black and gray.

Clearly in 2005, artists are rediscovering themselves and fortifying their creative prowess with refreshing works.