Kalpana’s Warriors, a performative installation of laser photo etchings and limited edition Giclée fine art prints by Shahidul Alam opened at Drik Gallery yesterday.
This exhibition is a tribute to Kalpana Chakma; a unique woman who walked among us. The brilliance of visual documentary combined with systematic research in advanced laser photo etching on straw titled Kalpana’s Warriors is a performative installation of portraits of those who have campaigned for proper investigation of the disappearance of Kalpana Chakma, an outspoken indigenous Bangladeshi woman who fought for the rights of her native people from south-eastern Bangladesh. The exhibition, organised to coincide with “Kalpana Chakma Abduction Day”, will embark on a global tour and will be shown at the Rivington Gallery in London on the June 12 2016, the 20th year of Kalpana’s disappearance.
The work is based on research by Saydia Gulrukh, social scientist, activist and a journalist; Rahnuma Ahmed, writer; Sadia Marium, photographer and photographs by Shahidul Alam, photographer and activist on the forced disappearance of Kalpana Chakma 19 years ago.
The process involved in creating these images are rooted in the everyday realities of the people living in the hills - the paharis. Repeatedly, the interviewees talked of the bareness of Kalpana’s home. Rather than print on conventional photographic media, straw mats, part of pahari daily life, became the canvas. The fire that had been used to raze pahari homes, represented by the laser beam which was used to burn the straw, etched with flames the images of rebellion.
The exhibition is third in the series of expositions on Kalpana Chakma by Shahidul Alam. A part of Drik’s ongoing No More campaign, the exhibition is curated by ASM Rezanur Rahman.
The installation will remain open till June 17 with visiting hours starting from 3pm to 8pm daily.
