Artist Kalidas passes away

Internationally-acclaimed Bangladeshi artist Kalidas Karmakar passed away at a private hospital in Dhaka this afternoon.  He was 73.

Kalidas, an awardee of prestigious Ekushey Padak, was declared dead soon after he was taken to Labaid Hospital in Dhaka around 3:00pm, said Sourav Chowdhury, artist and executive artistic director of Gallery Cosmos.

His body was kept in the mortuary of Birdem hospital and then it will be kept at the Fine Art faculty of Dhaka University from 10:00am to 11:00am on Sunday.

Later, the body will be kept on the Central Shaheed Minar premise from 11:00am to 1:00pm so that people from all walks of life can pay their last respect to the departed soul, Kalidas sister Sanchita Karmakar told The Daily Star.

Kalida’s two daughters --Konka Marmakar and Keya Karmakar--,who live in America, are on the way to return to Dhaka and the funeral ceremony will be held as per their decision, she said.    

The artist has achieved many awards and honours for his contribution to arts and added the prestigious Ekushey Padak to his accolades last year.

Kalidas' artworks echo symbolic, abstract and semi-abstract imageries and represent the connotations of our glorious Liberation War, various social phenomena and their perceptions, unwanted political unrest and the life sketches of the people of this part of the world.

Borin in January, 1946 in Faridpur, Kalidas completed a two-year pre-degree course at Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Dhaka.

In 1969, he later completed graduation from Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata.

His first ever-major solo exhibition was held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Gallery in August 1976.

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