Voice for the unvoiced

It is easy to swim towards downstream, but swimming upstream can be quite a task. Those who don't follow conventional norms and values of the society are generally treated as outcast, but who are we to label them that? They too pursue their own norms and values and maintain their own way of lives. Those who welcome the celebration of heterogeneity and prevalence of multitude expressions of beauty, life and conscience are more than an average human being. They are artists with an outlook of postmodern approach. 

Renowned artist Mohammad Iqbal is such an artist who closely observes the society and human beings and magnificently depicts the marginalised sects of the society on his canvas. His solo exhibition, titled “Outside of the Social Bondage” is now on at Galleri Kaya, Uttara in the capital. 

Asaduzzaman Noor, Cultural Affairs Minister, inaugurated the exhibition on August 22. Eminent artist Professor Rafiqun Nabi and Masato Watanabe, Ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh, graced the inaugural ceremony.     

The artist's recent works zoom in on the simple yet sagacious lives of Bauls and mystic sages. Iqbal is fascinated by the philosophy, cult and the way of Baulism as he comes across spirituality, sanctity and peace in them. Themes like mystic bards attired in red and white clothing, beards, horns of buffaloes, animals, talisman and trident criss-cross his canvases. 

“Journey of the Mystics” and “Nomadic Faces” are two series by Iqbal where he hints the legacy of spiritual quest and joyful journey of nomad people of the past. The artist envisages the charm of their lives and mingles his own artistic imaginations with the affluent nature and vast beauty and magnanimity of the universe. His canvas represents mystic bards and ancient edifices along with distant romance of the skies and hills. 

Shattered dreams and desires together with the deprivation of children, especially girls, are conspicuously noticeable in some of his works. The eyes of the children, portrayed by Iqbal, speak of the pain, sufferings, deprivation and our society's maltreatments and unjust attitudes towards the angels. At the backdrop of one of his paintings, there gleams a red gate, signifying the symbolic yet the desired destination of the lost and the downtrodden while a gazed female visage dreams of the better days to come.  

The exhibition, showcasing a total of 34 recent artworks done on oil on canvas and mixed media on paper, is open every day from 11am to 8pm till September 5. AND Group is sponsoring the exhibition.