After drawing huge attention of the art lovers in the city, the “20th National Art Exhibition” at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is ending Friday evening. For art enthusiasts who haven’t yet attended the exhibition, Friday is the last chance for them.
The 20th installment of the biannual exhibition organised by BSA features an astounding 280 artworks: 222 paintings, 39 prints, 40 sculptures, three tapestries and 15 installations by 255 artists.
Whether in realistic or abstract form, most of the artworks portray different social issues such as woman empowerment, oppression on the poor, trial of the war criminals, sufferings of the child labourers and many more. The participants have expressed their artistic minds through water-colour, oil, mixed media, acrylic, tempera, graphics, installation, video art and more.
From the 280 selected artworks, nine were selected by a four-member jury consisting of Hashem Khan, Rafiqun Nabi, Samarjit Roy Chowdhury and Syed Jahangir for nine prestigious awards.
This year, awards were bestowed upon one drawing, four installation works and four paintings. Md Mainuddin won the grand award called
“Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award” for his drawing work titled “Monajat.”
“Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Honourary Citation Award” went to Hasanur Rahman, Hasan Morshed and Munjurul Lovy. Rahman’s installation titled “Signature” moves the viewers by presenting the tragedy of recently occurred Rana Plaza collapse in Savar.
Besides, five more awards were given by different organisations. National art biennale was first introduced in 1975 with the objective to bring together artists belonging to different age groups, working in different mediums and techniques. The event has also become a platform, encouraging exchange of ideas between artists, critics and art enthusiasts.
Initially, 548 artists submitted a staggering total of 1260 artworks, out of which 280 were selected by a board comprising AKM Qayyum, Dr Farida Zaman, Sheikh Afzal Hossain, Lala Rukh Selim, Md Jasimuddin and Aminul Momenin Chowdhury.