Novera Ahmed’s first posthumous solo exhibition in the country is currently running at the Nalini Kanta Bhattasali Hall of Bangladesh National Museum.
The exhibition commenced on October 7 and will continue till October 19. It features 40 sculptures by the modern sculptor of Bangladesh who died in France on May 6 this year. She lived there for about 45 years before she passed away.
Born on March 29, 1929, Novera Ahmed was awarded a diploma in modelling and sculpture at the Campbell College of Arts in London in 1955. She returned to Dhaka in 1956 and within the next five years, created nearly a hundred sculptures.
Her first and only exhibition in the country was held in 1960, at the Central Public Library, now known as the Dhaka University Library. It was also the first sculpture exhibition in the then East Pakistan. Ahmed exhibited her sculptures in Thailand in 1970 and in France in 1973.
Last year, a retrospective show featuring her work done between 1969 and 2014 was held in Paris. She was awarded the Ekushey Padak by the government of Bangladesh in 1997. Ahmed jointly worked with Hamidur Rahman on the original design of the Shaheed Minar.
Novera Ahmed was laid to rest at a small cemetery near her residence at Chantemesle, near Paris.
