Young painters at their best

Mahjabin Kaderi's painting that won the Grand Prize

Mahjabin Kaderi , who won the Grand Prize,had her painting dancing with happy colours and forms.

Robayda Islam, who won the 1st prize in the C category, has women of different ages, sitting and cooking. Behind was a standing woman carrying a vessel of water. The cooking utensils were gray and brown while the women are dressed in gray, blue, orange and red. A boy in front in a singlet and lungi was selling nectar from earthen pots hanging from his shoulders. Behind were thatched houses, kitchen gardens and date trees. Farmers and boatmen had also been included in the background.

The 2nd prize in this group went to Jharna Akhter who has painted women stone-breakers at work. Although clothed in single drapes of the sari, the poor women stood out from the gray stones that surrounded them and the tall buildings in the backdrop due to the choice of bright garments. Soft washes of blue and mauve brought in the sky, while splashes of green and yellow depicted neighbouring greenery and shanties. The umbrellas that protect the workers were visible too in the background.

Koushik Saha won the third prize in the category. The painting had a row of children walking down a bridge, while in front were three baby tigers facing the viewer. The children were dressed in bright clothes like orange, red and blue. The water and the greenery were in clear blue and jade, touched with waves and lines.

Deenshah Sanny, Rahatul Jannat and Iffat Binte Reaz won the special prizes in the section with their colourful portrayal of a wedding, a boat race and a procession. The paintings were packed with faces and figures of young people with their coloured clothes.

Anik Saha won the first prize in the B section and this had boatmen at work, rowing and catching fish. Numerous brightly coloured fishermen in orange, green, blue and yellow were seen going about their work. Sirazur Rayan Ankon won the second prize in this group. His painting had brought in a game of football with players on the green grass, the goal keeper against the net and the waving crowd looking on. The painting was bright with its blues, pinks, greens and reds.

Sraboni Karmokar took the 1st prize with her depiction of a road scene, complete with buses, taxis, cars, and bright-eyed young drivers on motorbikes. The painting was neat and clean and done with the application of dots, mostly yellow-ochre and green. Sadya Jafar Jannat won the 2nd prize with her depiction of people, houses, boats birds, trees and flags. Her figures appeared to be floating on air.

The 3rd prize was won by Shahriar Hossain. In his painting one found birds, animals and humans all sitting down in a garden to chat and apparently have a little picnic in the green.

The special prizes in the group went to Sadya Nausheen, Nasim Ahmed Raqib and Tslim Momtaz for their depiction of scenes of children and adults in their everyday environment.

The exhibition assured us that the future generation of Bangladeshi artists had plenty of hope and promise.