The Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus is eye-catching with hundreds of trees and the natural surroundings. Its greenery, open fields, and water bodies rejuvenate the students and visitors.
Adding to the beauty, a group of students have painted several murals on the walls of the university.
Abdullah Mamur, a former student of JU, has led the team. They have created murals on the walls and painted the passenger sheds, telephone boxes and even the abandoned swimming pool. They used themes such as folk, Bengali literature, cartoons, comics and galaxies in these paintings.
On the way to the campus, pedestrians are forced to stop and take a look at the wall paintings. They also do not forget to click a few photos of the art works.
Abdulah Mamur graduated from the Fine Arts Department of JU and his journey as a painter started by drawing caricatures of his teachers when he was a child. This passion of painting the walls started in the year 2016. He once painted several walls during a Heem Utsav or winter festival on the campus. So far, he and his team have created over a hundred murals across the campus.
Recently, he added a new dimension to his work by painting the walls of an abandoned swimming pool on campus. The pool had been unused for several years and people were throwing waste into it. Therefore, Mamur took the initiative to transform it.
Mamur told Dhaka Tribune that many paintings were put on the walls of the campus before. However, this is the first time that a large canvas was used where he got to paint so many different paintings. He said that he aims to create awareness among the students and pedestrians through his paintings so that such a place is not made a trash bin.
This huge mural was done without any official sponsorship. Some teachers and students came forward to assist Mamur, who also bought the material needed for the work.
He said it took him and his team of 60 students to complete this project. Now students from other universities are coming to the JU campus just to have a look at the pool.
Mashura Akhter, a student of the university, said: “It is very good to see the new look of the swimming pool. Everyone is taking pictures next to these colorful paintings and are enjoying it. There is a festive mood on the campus.”
Among the other notable works on the campus by Mamur is a painting of popular cartoon character 'Tokai' by Nazarkar Rafiqun Nabi.
The narrow alleys of the university have been painted with popular characters from comic books, including Minions, Batman and Spiderman.
There were some traditional telephone connection boxes on the road from Shaheed Minar to the Chowrangi area of the campus. Mamur and his team have given them a new look as well.
Md Salauddin, another student of the university, told Dhaka Tribune that a few days ago the telephone boxes in the Chowrangi area had been covered with garbage. It is very nice to see the colorful superheroes painted on them, he added.
Mamur and his team have also painted the walls of the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) of the campus. They have used scenes from the movie Song of the Sea and painted them on the walls.
Several other walls were painted with characters from Bangla cinema, including ATM Shamsuzzaman, Humayun Faridi and comedian Dildar.
Oishi, visiting from Dhaka, said that these wall paintings are giving a unique dimension to the natural beauty of the campus.
“It is as if I'm lost in another world while walking along the streets of the university,” she added.
