“This exhibition from Bangladesh showcases works by 10 contemporary women artists. Most of them have earned prominence in the artistic arena of Bangladesh in the past few decades. Some are of recent reputations. Some have careers and oeuvres that have gone through considerable changes during the course of long efforts and experimentation. Women artists have begun to emerge in the mainstream art of Bangladesh quite late in comparison to their male counterparts. It was only in the 1980s that a significant number of women took up art as their primary mode of expression. The language and vocabulary of their works, the creative individuality they have displayed, the unique nature of thought they have inserted and the distinctive changes they have inserted and the distinctive changes they have brought about, signify well the identification of women artist’s names with some of the leading trends in contemporary art in Bangladesh,” said Shaela Sharmin, Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Chittagong, about a group exhibition of 10 female artists from Bangladesh titled ‘Faces of Feminine Expressions from Bangladesh’ held at Akar Prakar in Kolkata in India. The exhibition was jointly organised by Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts of Bangladesh and Akar Prakar of India. Akar Prakar opened in South Kolkata in July 2003. It is an open - air, display friendly art gallery. Reena and Abhijit Lath bring to it three generations of art insight. It has supported fledging artists and has featured several seniors.

The exhibition was inaugurated on June 19. Eminent Indian Bangali artist Poritosh Sen inaugurated the exhibition.

Artists Nazlee Laila Mansur, Farida Zaman, Nasreen Begum, Rokeya Sultana, Dilara Begum Jolly, Murshida Arzu Alpana, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Atia Islam Anne and Shulekha Chaudhury. Of them, artist Murshida Arzu Alapana has been living in Germany for more than a decade, while artist Tayeba Begum is participating a workshop in Pakistan at present.

The oppressed and helpless state of women in a male-dominated society and the chaotic political situation in the country, which aggravated the peril of the women, found powerful expression arranged in a narrative structure in the canvasses of Nazlee Laila Mansur. In her somewhat motionless world we love threatened by contemporary chaos, fundamentalism and political unrest or a girl sitting on the secured environment of her home, threatened by unexpected fear of humiliation.

We find some similarities in the works of Farida Zaman, Nasreen Begum and Rokeya Sultana in terms of visible appearance and aesthetic concern. Their aquatic canvasses are very sensitive in mood, involve thin application of colours through transparent washes and layers.

In the world of Dilara Begum Jolly, biological organs find limpid expressions through emotive and metaphorical use of forms derived from nature. They become transcendental in a poetic but claustrophobic space in her canvases.

Works of Murshida Arzu Alpana seem to personify her inner self, not by painting her own images, but by finding resemblance of herself in all women she depicts. The most striking characteristics of her works are evident in their spontaneity and freshness. Using huge canvasses her love and affection towards her childhood memories.

Kanak Chanpa Chakma belongs to the one of ethnic communities of Bangladesh. In her paintings the subject matter is her community and most of them are women. She seems to be also influenced by the philosophy of Buddhism. She represents the agony and suffering as well as the power of resistance by men against the temptations the world offers.

Tayeba Begum Lipi works from the point of a feminist discourse and post-modernistic understanding. In most of her works she portrays herself as a central solitary figure though they do not always simply look autobiographical. They display an overt feminine charm superimposed by a mixture of her sexuality, struggle of womanhood and motherhood. The youngest among these artists is Shulekha Chowdhury. She has her own straight-cut way of feministic depiction with the use of symbols taken from trivial household elements or objects from nature. She relates the suppression of women and their sufferings and humiliations in the everyday life they face in her own way of symbolism.

The 10 women artists of Bangladesh showcased in the present exhibition, display a common concern of their gender identity, but at the same time present a panoramic display of diverse styles, modes and vocabularies which, we believe, will present a vivid example of contemporary art practice in Bangladesh.