Bangladesh and Indian artists have attempted to translate the life of Gautama Buddha, his philosophy and love for nature in a group art exhibition under way at the Alliance Francaise de Dhaka in Dhanmondi in the capital.
Organised by the Oriental Painting Study Group, the exhibition titled 鈥楩inding Nirvana in Life: Buddha of Bengal鈥� is featuring 71 artworks belonging to a wide range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, pottery wash, gosh, tempera, palm leaf, tea leaf pot and calligraphy painting by 42 artists and a theatre performance titled 鈥楴irvana鈥�.
The art event, curated by Mikhail I Islam, has been organised to mark Buddha Purnima, celebrate the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha and more through artworks created by 33 local artists and nine artists from West Bengal, India.
Bangladeshi artists, including Abdus Satter, Amit Nandi, Ashraful Hasan, Bappy Paul, Chen Moung, Malay Bala, Manabenbdra Ghosh, Shakila Khan Chayan, Zahangir Alom and others; Indian artists, including Angshujyoti Das, Manikana Upadhyay, Prasanta Maharana, Rina Roy, Riya Das and others have participated in the exhibition.
Agnesh Shreya Gomes鈥檚 watercolour artwork titled 鈥楶reeti鈥� shows Buddha carrying a goat during a moonlit night.
Amit Nandi鈥檚 watercolour artwork titled 鈥楲alon-Buddha-Shree Chaitanya鈥� shows the three torchbearers of Humanistic Philosophy singing a song under a banyan tree during a moonlit night.
Chen Moung鈥檚 poster colour on swiss board artwork titled 鈥楤uddha and Nakshikantha-2鈥� shows Buddha meditating under a banyan tree and his devotees singing songs.
Manabenbdra Ghosh鈥檚 glass fibre and resin sculpture titled 鈥楲ove: Meditation鈥� shows Buddha meditating along with his six devotees.
The exhibition began with a theatre performance titled 鈥楴irvana鈥� directed by Lata Samadder on the AFD premises on May 20.
The play was jointly adapted by Lata Samadder and Md Zahidul Islam from Ashvagosh鈥檚 book Buddhacarita.
The play was performed by the students of theatre and media studies department of Tejgaon College and members of the OPSG.
Sheikh Sayem Hossian designed聽the stage, the costume was designed by Marufa Akter Mim and the lighting was jointly designed by Anik Kumar and Avik Saha.
The play will also聽be staged at the closing ceremony of the four-day exhibition on Thursday.
The exhibition also features a calligraphy project, titled 鈥楳ongolalok鈥�, which is an outcome of a research-based calligraphy workshop conducted by the curator of the OPSG Malay Bala.
Besides, the exhibition featured a discussion titled 鈥楤uddhist Lifestyle in Terracotta Art of Ancient Bengal (8th鈥�12th Century A.D.)鈥� by researcher, author and former director of the Bangladesh National Museum Niru Shamsun Nahar on Tuesday.
The artistes of Bhavnagar Sadhusangha will perform songs from Charyapada at the AFD at聽5:30pm today.