e_Paper (25 November 2016)

18
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2016
DT
Feature
Invisible Cities
Bangladeshi artist Rokeya Sultana’s first solo exhibition in Shantiniketan
• Features Desk
The solo exhibition of
Rokeya Sultana, titled
Invisible Cities will be
held in Nandan Museum,
Shantiniketan from November
25-28, 2016. This is the first
solo exhibition of the work of
the Bangladeshi born artist in
Shantiniketan since her graduation
from Kala Bhavan in 1983. The
artist will be a visiting Professor at
the Department of Graphic Art at
Khala Bhavan from November 23
to December 2, 2016.
Professor of the Department
of Printmaking, Dhaka
University, Rokeya Sultana is an
internationally acclaimed artist.
A Fulbright Research Fellow since
2012, Sultana continues to further
her investigation of printmaking,
most recently participating in a
residency at the prestigious Cicada
Press, College of Art and Design
in Sydney. Sultana has developed
a unique printing technique, the
pressure-print, when stencils and
found objects are used to create
impressions directly on paper. The
resulting body of work, the Fata
Morgana series, will be presented
along with paintings from an
earlier period in the artists career.
The exhibition will be held
in the historically significant
Nandan Museum in the Kala
Bhavan complex. Such luminaries
as Abanindranath Tagore,
Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal
Bose, Bind Bihari Mukherjee,
Ramkinkar Bajja and many others
have worked and shown in these
premises.
From its beginning in 1986 when
Maharshi Devendranath Tagore
set up a small retreat centre in a
grove of chhatim and date trees,
Shantiniketan has been place of
meditation and research. His son,
the poet and radical educationalist
Rabindranath Tagore founded a
children’s school on the territory,
prompted by a call to bring back
the ancient Indian tradition of
meditative reflection and to
create a natural environment for
learning. In 1921, using the Nobel
Prize money that he received for
Gitanjali, the poet expanded the
school and founded the higherstudies
college which has grown
into Visva-Bharati University.
The exhibition is a reflection
on the spirit of Shantiniketan as a
living vision and ideal of human
spirit and creativity. The title
Invisible Cities refers to a novel of
the same name by Italian author
Italo Calvino, a poetic work of
magic-realism on the subjects of
existence and the imagination. The
selection of works are from the
artists earlier romantic period along
with current pressure-print works.
Sultana is inspired by nature,
human relationships and the
intimate architecture of the psyche
and the soul. Her work echoes the
words of Rabindranath Tagore
who reflecting in The Poet’s
Religion wrote:
“Poetry and the arts cherish in
them the profound faith of man
in the unity of his being with all
existence”
The exhibition is curated by
Katerina Don, a freelance arthandler
and visualizer. A limitededition
catalog will be published
on the occasion of the event. The
exhibition was made possible with
the support of Energis Limited.
Sultana is inspired
by nature, human
relationships
and the intimate
architecture of the
psyche and the soul
Rokeya Sultana is an
internationally acclaimed artist
hailing from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
She has received numerous
awards for her work which
has been exhibited around the
world, most recently in the USA,
Japan, Germany, China, Egypt,
Denmark, India, Malaysia,
Belgium, Netherlands, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Poland,
Nepal and Korea. Recognised
as a master printmaker, Rokeya
Sultana has participated in
leading international visual art
conventions and fairs including
the Graphics Conferences in New
Orleans and San Francisco, Miami
Art Fair, NY Art Fair and Bombay
Art Fair. Sultana is a Fulbright
Researcher and has participated
in numerous residencies
including a recent project with
Cicada Press College of Art and
Design, Sydney.
Recent Awards & Achievements
2016: Collaborative workshop at
VAST, Bhutan. 2015: Residency
at Cicada Press, College of Art
and Design, University of NSW,
Sydney 2015: From the Nile to
the Padma, National Museum of
Cairo 2014: International Biennial
Print Exhibit 2013: Print Biannale,
Hawai 2013: Printmaking
workshop Under Pressure
Shafiuddin Studio, Dhaka,
Bangladesh 2012: Fulbright
Research Grant, University of
Nebraska, Linkoln, USA 2011,
2014: Participant, Southern
Graphic Conference (New
Orleans and San Francisco) 2011:
SAARC Art Camp participation in
Colombo, Sri Lanka 2003: French
Government Grant, L’Atelier
Lacouriere et Frelaut 2002:
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
Award, National Art Exhibition
2000: Daily Janakantha Second
Best Award, 1st Bangladesh
Charushilpi Sangsad Biennale Art
Awards 2000: Artist in residence
at the University of Nebraska,
USA •