‘Parables of the Womb’ opens at Bengal Shilpalay

Artist Dilara Begum Jolly is known for her works which touch upon themes of gender, trauma and the feminine figure. Initially trained as a painter from Government Arts College, Chattogram, and later as a printmaker from Santiniketan, Jolly has expanded her practice on various media. Her solo exhibition, Parables of the Womb, starts today at Bengal Shilpalay. In an intimate chat with The Daily Star, the artist shares her art concepts, inspiration and more.

The exhibition aims at showcasing her conception about how war destroys the ‘womb’, and in turn, destroys the existence of a nation. Jolly also focuses on the fact that in our everyday battle, the character remains the same. She dedicates the show to all the women who safeguard and nurture human race, even though they are juggling between their everyday struggles.

Jolly considers herself to be her only competitor and thus, her will to be better has worked as motivation through tough times. “Honestly, this journey began as a consequence of bad academic result,” smiles the artist in nostalgia.

Although she was blessed with her family’s support and her institution preferred a gender balanced environment, the society she has grown up in always reminded her that she was a girl. “I still remember this incident from my 3rd year during my undergrad when we visited a brick field. I, like most of us, stood near the furnace where some of the workers were burning bricks.  Some of the labours took offense and asked me to step down as they believed that the touch of a girl made the bricks impure!” she says.  Baffled by this experience, Jolly began to inquire how the society actually portray women.

Jolly defines herself as an organic practitioner. “I develop my art through the process of creating it. However, I research the subject thoroughly,” she asserts. Transforming her knack for stitch work in her art, Jolly developed a signature practice of needling on paper and, more recently on photographs – a painstaking process during which she draws motifs on paper, or highlights areas on photographs, through needle prickling.

 The exhibition will feature the screening of her first documentary film Jothorleena, alongside performing arts and animation films. Jothorleena, an experimental production, portrays the life of war hero Roma Chowdhury along with archived letters collected while filming.

The exhibition is open for all till March 28.