Writers, teachers and activists said on Saturday that ‘mass people’ disappeared after the July mass-uprising and the safety of people’s life and property are not on the July Proclamation priority list.
They also said that Bangladeshi art education is deeply affected by European colonial practice and Bangladeshi art critics misread Sultan’s style.
They made the remarks at a discussion titled ‘Discussion on people’s uprising and empowerment in SM Sultan’s artworks’ by cultural organisation Samageet to celebrate legendary artist SM Sultan’s birth centenary at DrikPath Bhobon in the capital.
Jahangirnagar University associate professor of philosophy Syed Nizar, artist and singer Amal Akash and Narayanganj Sangskritik Jote general secretary Dina Tazrin spoke at the event moderated by assistant professor of JU fine art department Dhiman Sarkar.
Sultan expresses his decolonisation philosophy while his paintings portray mass-people as symbols and his village is an idealistic universal civilisation developed by working class people — mostly farmers, Dhiman Sarkar said.
Syed Nizar said that the War of Independence impacted a lot on Bangladeshi painters and Sultan one of them, but Bangladeshi art critics misread Sultan’s style.
‘Modern European art is based on projective techniques but Sultan breaks European geometry,’ Nizar said, adding that artists need language to express his own thoughts.
Nizar also said that after the War of Independence, the state could not ensure citizen rights, even human rights, adding, ‘A large of number of civilians were killed in the uprising, but the July Proclamation became merely a political conciliation.’ Â
Amal Akash said that Bangladeshi artists did not carry the SM Sultan legacy.
‘Sultan was the first Bangladeshi painter who was aware of environment and wanted to protect nature,’ Amal Akash said, adding that Sultan created art for his community people which was also universal. Â
Amal Akash also said that peasant movement is absent in the country now, because farmers lost their land and turned into farm labourer, which is also alarming for our food security.
After the discussion, an open question-answer session was held at the event.