Since South Asia has always been home to a large variety of ethnic groups, cultures, and traditions, it is no wonder that modern art that originates there have many forms and colors. Like many countries in South Asia, Bangladesh has had a difficult history. Nevertheless, it managed to survive and grow in the rapidly globalizing world, and to a large extent because of the artists and activists who fought for their values. Art in all its forms is close to the people of Bangladesh, and it is an essential part of their lives. One of the most prominent artists from Bangladesh is a realist painter Zainul Abedin. He can rightfully be called the founding father of modern Bangladeshi art because, in his work, he managed to go beyond the traditional styles, portrayed ordinary people’s struggles, and initiated art education in Bangladesh.
Zainul Abedin was born on the 29th of December, 1914. He had a simple agricultural background, liked drawing, and enjoyed spending time on the banks of the Brahmaputra River. His passion for painting developed early in his childhood when he started going to the riverside to paint it. Living through wartime, he did not always have proper paper or ink, so he learned to make his ink from charcoal, and he used packaging paper as his canvas (Bangajagala, 2020). However, these inconveniences never discouraged him from painting; he continued to follow his passion even in the hardest of times. For example, he showed the horrors of the famine of 1943 in Bengal in his series of sketches, which shocked the world. Until now, outside Bangladesh, Abedin is primarily known for this famine series. Only true, dedicated artists can go through any difficulties without losing their potential and passion.
The first reason why Abedin can be considered a father of modern Bangladeshi art is the fact that he stepped out of the traditional styles that were common among other famous artists of that time. At the age of 19, he went to Calcutta to enter the Government School of Art. By 1938, he had finished it, having improved his skills in European academic painting styles. Despite that, he tended to criticize both European and oriental styles because he considered that they had too many limitations. He decided to move beyond those limitations and started to draw in the style of realism, and his first works in that style can be seen in his famine series. Other art figures, famous at the time, like Nandalal Basu or Jamini Roy, focused on drawing “on the tradition,” but Abedin made a different choice (Zaman, 2004). He had a strong empathy for the poor and often drew them, which led him towards realism and helped him create his unique style.
In turn, Abedin’s strong feeling of compassion became another reason that made him a founding father of modern art in Bangladesh. It is easy to see how he felt about ordinary people and their struggles in all his works. Although people often call the famine series his most remarkable paintings, it is a controversial statement. These sketches have made him famous, but the rest of his works deserve more attention as well. Apart from the famine sketches, he also depicted common people in his series on the Santhal ethnic group (Alom, 2015). Paintings like “Santhal Couple” or “Santhal Women” depict their daily lives in a modest but honest way. Before Zainul Abedin, the masses were rarely depicted in visual arts. He did not only unveil the struggles that they were having but also made statements about the political and socio-cultural situation in the country. He was horrified by what he saw in the streets of Calcutta and could do nothing but reflect those horrors in his art to make others demand changes.
Apart from his artistic talent, Zainul Abedin had an organizational one. This talent allowed him to make a significant contribution to art education in Dhaka and Bangladesh in general. After he and some of his colleagues had migrated there from Calcutta, they founded the first art school there, the present-day Faculty of Fine Arts at Dhaka University. He became the principal of this art institute and worked hard to make it grow, develop and help more students study art. Because of his efforts, the institute had turned into a college by 1963, and art education became an important part of public school education in Bangladesh. As a political and social activist, Abedin also took part in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Bengali Language Movement. He was deeply affected by the challenges that Bengali culture was facing during wartime and under the Pakistan regime, and that was reflected in his art as well. When his country was going through the last years of the regime, he joined the political groups that fought for freedom and renounced all the honors that the government of Pakistan had granted him.
Paintings like “Monpura” show that the way Abedin portrayed rural life is a strong statement by itself. He tried to make the authorities and important political figures see all the challenges that the poor faced every day of their lives. “The Rebel Crow” and “Rebellion” became the highest points of his political and social activism because they acted as a call for all Bengalis to fight for preserving their language and culture (Sunderason, 2017). It can be stated that both the common people and the artists have responded to his call. Zainul Abedin’s influence is truly significant because he is one of the few artists whose paintings have been reproduced by many artists from all over Bangladesh. This shows how much people appreciated and still appreciate his art and all he had done to improve the lives of ordinary people. He managed to do what he most wished for, and that was to break the boundaries between classes. One of his most famous works, “Struggle,” has even become the symbol of freedom that people in Bangladesh often put on the back of their rickshaws or the walls of the buildings.
All this allows the conclusion that Zainul Abedin is the Bangladeshi artist who has played the most important role in developing modern art in Bangladesh. He did not only depict what he was most concerned about but also fought to make the situation better. Like a true artist, he was full of empathy and compassion for the weak and poor. He managed to remove barriers between people and make the poor not only feel but be seen. His love for his people led him to create the first art institute in Dhaka, which is still functioning as the modern Faculty of Fine Arts at Dhaka University. Abedin knew that with art, people could do great things and, most importantly, become closer to one another.
References
Alom, Z. (2015). Homage to Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin. The Daily Star. Web.
Bangajagala. (2020).Zainul Abedin: Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin. YouTube. Web.
Sunderason, S. (2017). Shadow-Lines. Zainul Abedin and the Afterlives of the Bengal Famine of 1943. Third Text, 31(2-3), 239-259. Web.
Zaman, M. (2004). The Artist of People’s Struggle. Star Weekend Magazine. Web.