Artist-sculptor Arham ul Huq Chowdhury depicts Bengali proverbs and idioms through calligraphy on old paper in his 20th solo exhibition under way at Alliance Fran莽aise de Dhaka at Dhanmondi in the capital.
The 13-day exhibition titled Decorated Deeds: Bangla Calligraphy on Antique Documents featuring 31 Bangla calligraphy artworks attempts to link ancient linguistic heritage with the tangible remnants of historical narratives to preserve both art and memory.聽聽
His unique style of calligraphy creates the image which is said by the sentence.聽聽
He has used black, yellow and red colours which were compatible with the background of vintage papers, dating back to the East India Company and colonial periods.
In his artworks age-old tradition, symbols and characters of the Bengali culture are portrayed with a humorous approach.
His artwork titled Lekha Pora Kore Je, Gari Ghora Chore Se shows a carriage created through the Bengali alphabet used in the same sentence.
Some artworks including Laat Saheb and Kaler Putul has portrayed characters of British Government officials during the colonial period.
鈥業n the process of doing Bangla calligraphy, searching for age-old idioms, phrases, riddles, and sayings that resonate with deeper meaning, and going further, I have tried to add another layer to the visual representation of the ancient words of wisdom,鈥� Arham said, adding that he has used various types of handmade natural material papers of various textures and colours to bring out the energy of the proverbs.
Artist Arham鈥搖l鈥揌uq Chowdhury, a founder member of the Bangladesh Heritage Foundation, has held numerous solo exhibitions since the mid-1990s, covering an eclectic range of forms including Bangla calligraphy, scrap metal sculpture, bonsai, art furniture, and batik using natural dye.
The exhibition will remain open to the public until April 26.