BANGLADESH ART HISTORY

BANGLADESH ART HISTORY

With the leadership of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin the eminent artists Anwarul Huq, Quamrul Hasan, Khawaja Shafique Ahmed, Safiuddin Ahmed and Habibur Rahman started the Government Institute of Arts and Crafts in DNMI Hospital building at Jonson road in Dhaka.

At the moment of its beginning there were six teachers along with Zainul Abedin as the Principal and eighteen students. The activities of this institute started with three departments: Fine arts (at present Drawing and Painting), Commercial art (at present Graphic Design) and Graphic art (at present Printmaking). In 1952 the institute moved to a building at Segun Bagicha and then in 1956 it moved to its own building at Shahbag.

In 1963 the institute turned into Government Degree College and was named East Pakistan College of Arts and Crafts. After independence of Bangladesh this college was named Bangladesh College of Arts and Crafts. M.F.A. course has been started here since 1978. Art History department started M.F.A. course in 1991 and Honors course in 2001. In 1983 this college merged as institute in Dhaka University. Honors course has been started since 1992-93 session. The institute was turned into a Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University in 2008.

History

The recent excavations of the artifacts in the archaeological site of Wari-Bateshwar indicates that the history of Bangladeshi art dates back to 450 BC. However, more research is being carried out in this regard as these excavations conflict with the earlier notions about the existence of early urban civilization in Bangladesh. Proper evidence about the earliest development of Bangladeshi art refers to the Mauryan age. A number of sculptures have been discovered in Bangladesh which reflect the rich heritage of Mauryan art.

The most significant development of Bangladeshi art took place during the Pala rule which existed from 750–1174 CE. The Palas created a distinctive form of Buddhist art in Bangladesh which even influenced the Chinese, Japanese, eastern Asian and Tibetan art. This progress of Bangladeshi art was continued to some extent during the Sena rule through the 11th and 12th centuries.

Bangladeshi art witnessed the influence of Islamic art though the arrival of Muslims in Bengal beginning from the 11th century. This influence started through the establishment of Sultanate of Bengal which covered most of the area of present-day Bangladesh. However, Islamic art in Bangladesh mostly flourished during the Mughal rule. The Muslim dynasties mainly contributed in the architectural field. A huge influence of Islamic architecture can be seen in numerous mosques, shrines and mazars located throughout Bangladesh.

A new wave of evolution was introduced in Bangladeshi art through the pervading of British rule. The British left their impact in almost every field of visual arts in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi art was bolstered through the introduction of Modern art. This period also gave birth to many famous artists in Bangladesh including the great Zainul Abedin.

Folk art

As in other countries of the world, the people of rustic, and primitive ideas developed folk art in Bangladesh. Because of this the structure and growth of the folk-art of Bangladesh are filled with pure and simple vigor and the symbolic representations of hope, aspiration and sense of beauty of the rural Bangladeshi folk. The environment and the agricultural activities greatly helped to enrich the traditional folk-art of Bangladesh. It uses traditional motifs reflecting the land and its people. Different forms of folk art tend to repeat these common motifs. For instance, the lotus, the sun, the tree-of-life, flowery creepers etc. are seen in paintings, embroidery, weaving, carving and engraving. Other common motifs are fish, elephant, horse, peacock, swastika, circle, waves, temple, mosque etc. Many of these motifs have symbolical meanings. For example, the fish represents fertility, the sheaf of paddy prosperity, the lotus purity and the Swastika good fortune. Another factor, most important perhaps, that has influenced the art and culture of this land is the six seasons.

The folk art of Bangladesh has been largely contributed by the rural women because of the aesthetic value as well as the quality of their work. A key reason behind it was that in most cases their art has been non-commercial, whereas the folk art produced by men has a commercial value attached to it. Thus, artists like blacksmiths, potters, cobblers, painters, goldsmiths, brass-smiths, weavers earn their livelihood from what they produce while traditionally, from the past, Alpana artists or Nakshi kantha needlewomen were working within the home and received no monetary recompense for their labor. Both Alpana and Nakshi kantha are some of the most attractive forms of Bangladeshi folk art. Pottery and Ivory are also some popular forms of the art.

Modern Art

The movement of modern art in Bangladesh has its roots in the early 20th century. Back then there was no training or educational institutions for arts in Bangladesh. In the late 19th century, the British started to establish some art schools in Calcutta the then provincial capital of Bengal which inspired the local art admirers to pursue a particular form of art. The art lovers of Bangladesh or erstwhile East Bengal were also induced by this. This phenomenon gave birth to many preeminent figures of arts in Bangladesh whose fame spread all the way through not only in Bangladesh but in the whole world. Zainul Abedin was from this generation of artists. He is considered as the pioneer of art movement in Bangladesh. Another notable Bangladeshi is Abanindranath Tagore, founder of the Bengal School of Art.

After the partition of India, Calcutta became a part of West Bengal in India while the current geographical area of Bangladesh formed the East Pakistan province of Pakistan. Hence, the local artists felt a dire need of an art institution in Bangladesh. In 1948, Zainul Abedin, along with other leading local artists like Quamrul Hassan, Safiuddin Ahmed, Anwarul Huq, Khawaja Shafique established the Government Institute of Arts and Crafts to evolve the art tradition in Bangladesh.

Since the establishment of the art institute, the artists in Bangladesh started to gain the much required professionalism and also started to attach commercial value to it. This prompted them to organize art exhibitions to showcase their work to the audiences. By the 1960s the artists started to link with the art traditions of other parts of the world which gained them a pretty clear understanding of contemporary art in those countries. Many artists went to Europe and Japan for training and came back with new ideas and latest techniques, but they were also steeped in the traditions of indigenous art forms.

After the independence of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy was set up in 1974 which later started to organize regular art exhibitions and festivals involving both national and international artists. By this time, Bangladeshi art also began to get international recognitions and appreciations. After the Independence of Bangladesh, a major influence came from the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, which included several Bangladeshi such as Nandalal Bose Manishi Dey, Mukul Dey, Jamini Roy and Rabindranath Tagore.

Contemporary Art

Several art movements arose in Bangladesh as well, artists exhibited internationally and few groups of artists formed in the Bangladeshi contemporary art scene. Few institutions established to be involved on contemporary creation. Several artists left the country and practiced on interdisciplinary media in Europe, America and Japan. Bangladeshi born Runa Islam, Hasan Elahi, Naeem Mohaiemen, Firoz Mahmud and Rana Begum practiced on various media including video, installation, photography, text, sound, painting and other new media of art and got recognition exhibiting internationally. Britto organized several art events on contemporary media. Samdani Art Foundation has established in early 2010`s and massively changing the scenario of contemporary art and culture.