Today is the 38th anniversary of death of eminent artist Rashid Choudhury, who introduced and popularised tapestry as a fine art form in the country.
Born on April 1, 1932 at Haroa in Faridpur, Rashid Choudhury studied in the then Government Institute of Arts and Crafts, now faculty of fine art of Dhaka University.
He also studied sculpture at the Central Escula des Bellias Artes de San Fernando in Madrid and sculpture, fresco and tapestry at the Academy of Jullian and Beaux Arts in Paris.
A professor at Chittagong University, Rashid Choudhury, successfully introduced tapestry in various forms. He depicted different form of folk motifs like rural men, women, farmers, workers, animals, birds and others in his tapestry works.
He used threads of contrasting colours like blue, white, black, red, green, brown and more while weaving his Tapestries.
For his contribution, Rashid Choudhury received the first prize on fresco painting in Beaux Arts in Paris in 1962 and first prize in RCD Biennale in Tehran in 1967. He also received Ekushey Padak and the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award.
Rashid Choudhury passed away on December 12 in 1986.