"Ek dofa, ek dabi", "Bloody July in Bangladesh", and "Shob Shabhabik"— each poster boldly bearing these statements against the fascist regime, painted exclusively in red, yellow and black — were the striking artworks by Debashish Chakrabarty during the height of the July Uprising. 

A total of 22 such artworks are being exhibited at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, under the titled, "Poster e July Obbhutthan" (July Uprising on Posters). This live and AR-VR (Augmented-Virtual Reality) interactive exhibition is organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) and managed by its production department. An inaugural ceremony was held last Tuesday (January 7) at the National Art Gallery of BSA.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul was present as the chief guest during this programme presided over by Dr Syed Jamil Ahmed, director general of BSA. Renowned photographer, curator and activist Dr Shahidul Alam and Mahbub Morshed, managing director and chief editor of the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) were present at the event as distinguished guests. 

Artist Debashish Chakrabarty joined the programme virtually from the USA while writer and researcher Parvez Alam joined live from Amsterdam. Abdul Halim Chanchal, director of the Production Department of BSA delivered the opening speech. The significant inaugural event was also attended by Mustafa Zaman, director of Fine Arts at BSA.

Debashish Chakrabarty revealed that the artworks chosen for the exhibition belonged to a series called "Rashtrojontrona". He then said that the seeds of his works were planted many years before the events of July, and elaborated more about his journey in political art and the decisions he had taken, "I utilised the words of the people as raw materials for art while deciding to take inspiration from South Asian banners, posters, packaging, film and even meme culture."

"Since I was familiar with both the political landscape of Bangladesh and the wishes of the people… it didn't take me long to respond to the Anti-discrimination Students Movement," he expressed.

Mahbub Morshed spoke of how there were not many among the artists who were willing to participate in the July Uprising because of fear. "Fear of losing whoever would replace the fascist regime wouldn't give them the freedom to practice art," he highlighted."Only a handful of artists were participants of the uprising, we know them by their names and Debashish is one of them." 

"If an artist doesn't raise their voice and protest then I don't see any point in their work. I don't think an artist is only meant for aesthetics", conveyed Shahidul Alam. "No matter which government it is, the purpose of art is to raise questions. If art doesn't align with the hopes and wishes of the people, then that 'high art' doesn't have any meaning," he added. 

Adviser Asif Nazrul said, "Personally speaking, the fact that graffiti could stand so powerfully is something that I didn't see in the political landscape of the past 15 years." The youth, according to him, has opened up a new horizon, from activities, slogans, naming programmes, making posters, graffiti and so on, "The language of protest was so diverse that the ones who built the conventional, fascist narrative didn't know how to respond to it. A small poster proved to destroy a dominant narrative of many years."

BSA Director General Syed Jamil Ahmed praised Debashish Chakrabarty and said that the artist has shown how art can simultaneously be a proper political weapon and artwork. "Debashish Chakrabarty demonstrated what the language of post-uprising art should be like," added.

A small booklet featuring articles by Parvez Alam and DG Syed Jamil Ahmed, along with postcards featuring the artworks of the exhibition were distributed during the programme.

The AR-VR interactive exhibition will allow the visitors to experience a unique perspective while providing them with the context of the artworks through videos and newspaper excerpts. These can be accessed by scanning the QR codes under each artwork.

"Poster e July Obbhutthan's" live and AR-VR interactive (Augmented-Virtual reality) exhibition is open to all and will continue to run until January 19, every day from 11am to 8pm, at Gallery 5 of Jatiya Chitrashala Auditorium. 

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‘July Revolution on Posters’: A fusion of art and technology at Shilpakala