The pioneer of Bangladeshi modern art
Zainul Abedin is widely acclaimed for his Bengal Famine Sketches. Through a
series of sketches, Zainul not only documented the harsh famine of 1940 but
also showed its sinister face through the skeletal figures of the people
destined to die of starvation in a man-made plight. He depicted these extremely
shocking pictures with human compassion. He made his own ink by burning
charcoal and using cheap ordinary packing paper for sketching. He produced a
series of brush and ink drawings. Which later became iconic image of human
sufferings. Zainul developed a knack for drawing and painting when he was a
high school student. After completing high school of art, Kolkata, he graduated
with the first position in first class in 1938. He was appointed teacher of the
art School while he was still a student there he also attended the slade school
of arts, London in 1957-52. Zainul Abedin is considered the founding father of
Bangladeshi art, He was an artist of outstanding talent and earned
international reputation. For his referred to as “Shilpacharya” meaning ‘great
teacher of art’ in Bangladesh. He was the first principal to the first art
school in Dhaka in East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh). He organized the “Nabanna”
(Harvest) exhibition in 1969. In the exhibition, a 65- foot long scroll
portraying the rural East Pakistan in phases from “abundane” to poverty. This
intensified the already heightened non-cooperation movement against the
Pakistan regime. The exhibition was symbolic of the artists’ protest and a
milestone in demanding cultural and political freedom. Zainul’s dynamic style
of work is evident in a 30 foot long scroll painting called “manpura”, which
was done to commemorate to death of hundreds and thousands of people in the devastating
cyclone of 1970.
Zainul Abedin painting
He designed the page of constitution of Bangladesh. He founded
the Folk art Museum at “sonargaon”, and also Zainul Abedin “Shangrahasala”, a
gallery of this own work in “Mymensing” city of Bangladesh in 1975. The
Bangladeshi river “Bramaputra” plays a predominant role in his paintings and a
source of inspiration all through his career. Much of his childhood was spent
near the scenic beauty of the river “Bramaputra”. A series of water colours
that Zainul did as his tribute to the river earned him the governor’s Gold
Medal in an India exhibition in 1938. This was the first time when he came into
spotlight and this award gave him the confidence to create his own visual
style. Zainul was born in “Kishoueganj”, Bangladesh on 29 December 1914 and He
died on 28 May 1976.
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