Bangla calligraphy exhibition
Aesthetic presentation of our alphabet
Ershad Kamol
Calligraphy, practiced from the Far East to the West, has great artistic appeal. The calligraphy of some middle-eastern countries, in particular, ranks high because of the shape of the alphabets. The Muslim style was in evidence in a recent calligraphy exhibition at the Sculptor Novera Gallery of the National Museum. The exhibition was arranged jointly by the Dainik Amar Desh and Shahjalal Islami Bank.Fourteen participants presented calligraphy in the exhibition, using different mediums--digital print, acrylic, collage and gauche. However, most of the calligraphy was done in digital print. Of the 50 calligraphy pieces, Mahbub Murshid, Masum Akhtar Mili and Mubashwir Majumdar's work drew the attention of the audience. Both Mahbub Murshid and Masum Akhtar Mili incorporated natural motifs in their works, by using symbolic colour. On his acrylic calligraphy Mahbub said, "The shapes of Arabic, Persian or Urdu alphabets are very handy to decorate flowers or other elements of nature. However, it is difficult to do it with Bangla alphabets. That is why we are using background of acrylic painting for the artistic presentation of Bangla calligraphy. And the background is very relevant to my theme--the nature of Bangladesh." Mubashwir Majumdar made an interesting collage titled Shanjher Barnomala (alphabets at dusk) by depicting glimpses from the cultural heritage of rural Bangladesh. His decoration of Bangla alphabets presented scenes of kite flying, the intricate designs of Nakshikantha and such aspects of the rural Bangladesh. Basir Mesbah decorated the Qalima with Bangla alphabets in gauche medium. The Muslim style is also explicit in the other Bangla calligraphy works that are done in computerised digital print.
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Mahbub Murshid's calligraphical work contains lines from poems of Jibanananda Das |
