"The Anticipation of Rain" competed in the immersive non-fiction category at IDFA, the leading documentary film festival in the world. What was your inspiration behind creating this VR experience?
I love rain and specially monsoon in Bangladesh. It is a joyous, romantic experience for me. So theatrical and powerful. Also important for our country. To immerse my audience fully into the experience of monsoon rains in Bangladesh in a 3D environment, painted by me, and experience the smell of humidity and rain, I have created the VR multisensory experience “The Anticipation of Rain”.
Have you been to IDFA? How was the reaction among the audiences/experts about "The Anticipation of Rain”?
Yes, I attended the festival and participated at the DocLab Forum as well to pitch the project to exhibit it worldwide and for collaboration. The feedback from the experts were very positive and encouraging. They are moved and are interested to bring it to different festivals. For example, Jimmy Chang's feedback from Sandman Studios is "I got lost in the rain”. He also mentioned It was “lovely, poetic, touching and powerful”. I heard from some experts that it is very engaging and they loved the artistic style as well.
The audiences were moved too by the experience. The honorable ambassador of Bangladesh in The Netherlands, Riaz Hamidullah and his family was among them too. They loved the experience. Specially his son Taiyeb. A Dutch audience mentioned and wrote about it in her Instagram page that she almost fell off her bike, after the VR experience, as it was so relaxing. Some cried, some were amazed by the scents. There are more positive feedbacks from the industry experts and audiences that is very inspiring for me.
You mentioned climate adversities affecting Bangladesh in the promo. How does your film relate to climate change? What can be the roles of artists in combatting global warming?
The experience is narrated by me, where I am sharing my personal story about my paralysis. When I was 23 and in my final year of Bachelor in Fine Arts, I was completely paralyzed by a rare virus. I observed how monsoon rain is one of my inspiration and resembles my experience to my illness. Monsoons changed since my childhood. It is more erratic and unpredictable due to climate change. But I still see the beauty of it. In my VR experience, I emphasized the beauty of the monsoon and at the same time the dark moment, where we feel uncertain and vulnerable, as it was in my lived experience of paralysis. I lost control of my body for a while and it felt like it will never end. But my family's love and support, the beautiful nature around me, and everything moving in it, as I couldn't move any part of my body, inspired me to keep dreaming to run again. Same way when the storm ends and you see the silver lining, it brings hope. My goal is to inspire all to take care of our beautiful world. Even though we are in a situation where we are uncertain and scared.
I think artists play and important role in depicting, inspiring, discussing current situation. In my case it was monsoon and how it is changed because of climate change. There are so many signs and issues but instead of scaring, we can inspire all to take care of our beautiful world as artists by using our creativity.
Are you interested to delve further into VR and film-making?
I learned a lot developing and creating this piece. I still love painting and will be continuing but since I loved the outcome, also realize some of the mistakes on the way since it was my first project, I want to explore more to create more VR/XR experiences with all the lesson learned. Also, it was something out of my comfort zone but I enjoyed the result.
Your work mostly consists of paintings (water, acrylic, oil). Have you ventured into film-making before?
No, it was my first VR film.
You have been called the "Painter of Skies"? What draws you to consistently paint skies?
When I was paralyzed, in the beginning, it was very hard to accept the situation but my family, friends constantly supported me. That helped me to be motivated and I remember I was dreaming that I am running across the grass field. The big, big sky was limitless and so beautiful. Birds flying away and inspired me to be free. When I started to paint again, around 7 years ago, those were my inspiration. Clouds, changing sky in different moments and seasons with the light and time, birds with their long wings flying in between the clouds, inspired me to paint skies.
Many painters throughout history have had singular obsessions/inspirations. Do you think having a fixation on a subject is limiting or liberating for an artist?
I feel like it makes me happy to paint skies and that is why I kept painting skies. I think it made me better and also helped me find out my way of painting. I use long brush strokes to celebrate the movement that I missed once. By practicing one subject, I don't think it is limiting me but it makes me explore the subject in depth.
VR is a relatively new field in Bangladesh. Your work could inspire more such creations. Do you have plans to bring "The Anticipation of Rain" to Bangladesh soon?
I really want to bring it to Bangladesh and therefore I will be very happy if I get any opportunity or anyone interested to host it please contact me.
You have exhibited your work all over the globe and received recognitions. Which accomplishment are you proud of the most?
The most important and important for me was the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam as it is the world's largest (non-fiction) film festival. But also, the opportunity to demo it at the King Abdul Aziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) honoured my project as the centre piece among the five selected, and exhibited it at the center of the plaza, with the immersive installation cube, was a very important accomplishment for me.
What are you working on now?
At the moment, I have just pitched the project for distribution and some industry professionals are interested. The experience will be also exhibited next month at the Red Sea Festival, where I am also invited to be one of the juries for the VR experiences in competition. My painting is also going to be at the Asian Art Biennale in Dhaka from December 7 till January 7, 2023.
