JAPANESE photographer Hiroko Kobayashi first thought of visiting Bangladesh when she read the country's National Anthem Amar Shonar Bangla in English translation. 'I strongly wanted to see the people who have chosen this beautiful poem written by Rabindranath Tagore as the song of the nation,' she would later write in her book of photographs, To Meet Bengal's Women. And on her visit, Kobayashi took numerous photographs of people who live all over the poverty-stricken country, amidst tremendous hardship as well as moments of joy.
Displaying 62 such photographs by Hiroko Kobayashi, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is holding a 12-day long exhibition at its National Art Gallery. Titled I wish to go to Bangladesh again, the exhibition was inaugurated by the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, Matsushiro Horiguchi, on April 2.
In July 2003, after returning to Japan, Kobayashi held her first photography exhibition on Bangladesh--its nature and people. In December of the same year, she displayed another installment of photos on Bangladesh--this time featuring the natural beauty of Rangamati of the Hill Tracts. Now Kobayashi is here in Bangladesh with the third part of her enterprise. Earlier, Kobayashi had had her first two solo displays in Japan--The Road to Hunza on Karakorum and The Journey to Acropolis on Turkey.
During her first visit to Bangladesh, Kobayashi felt overwhelmed at the warm welcome extended to her by people wherever she had gone. To her
great amazement, she found that people are living in utter distress, yet they always try to be happy in their own conditions. Whenever she wanted to take snaps, people--irrespective of their age, gender and religion--always gave an eager pose. And that attracted Kobayashi the most. She felt a deep urge to do 'something' for these poor people, especially the children.
Being a member of the NGO called Hunger Free World, opportunity showed her the way. She brought out an album of her photographs on Bangladesh and last year she founded a monthly scholarship for poor students with the proceeds from both the exhibition and the sale of the album. The scholarship, named Hunger Free Hiro Scholarship, distributed and monitored by the Hunger Free World branches in the Bangladesh, is now helping about 50 students at Kaliganj of Jhenidah and Boda of Panchagarh. The amount of the scholarship--Tk. 50.00 for students up to class III, and Tk. 100.00 for those up to class X--may seem to many quite scanty; but the concerned officials believe that the amount is sufficient enough to meet the monthly education expenses at places
like Boda and Kaliganj where living costs are minimal. Kobayashi and her colleagues now dream of gradually increasing the reach of this scholarship programme. Kobayashi would donate a large portion of the proceeds from the sale of the album in Bangladesh to the scholarship funds.
As for the photographs taken by Kobayashi, one thing is very striking that she, unlike most other foreign photographers, has not tried to romanticise people's poverty by making it her subject. On the contrary, what will attract one's attention at the exhibition are her portraits of joy and happiness in the lives of these poor people. In the smile and bright eyes of a burka-clad woman, Kobayashi discovers a Mona Lisa. The frolicking children are the wonders to her--they seem 'always powerful and bright as the Sun' to her.
Apart from the smiling faces of our rural people, Kobayashi has also captured the scenic beauty at different places of Bangladesh. Sunset in the river Padma, the immense stretch of mustard fields with bright yellow flowers, the World Heritage sites like Paharpur, the hills and winding rivers of Rangamati, the estuaries at Kuakata have profoundly touched her soft heart.
The exhibition will remain open from 9 am to 8 pm daily until April 13.