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A new venture in household ceramics: Aesthetic appeal

Fayza Haq
KAMAL Ahmed Maruf and his wife Rehana Akhter Nayan recently held an admirable exhibition of household stoneware. The display, though not unique, deserved a visit and patronage because of the range of the ceramics at reasonable prices. Also, the artists are still students and have already developed a name tag of their own, which is being sought after at numerous Gulshan outlets. The patrons are not only foreigners but local art enthusiasts. After the exposition at the Zainul Gallery even major artists like Rafiqun Nabi and Hamiduzzaman Khan had only words of admiration for the works. Talukdar, the head of the ceramics section of the Fine Arts Institute,
Du, was naturally brimming over with the sense of satisfaction over the handiwork of his proteges.
A swift glance of the display work in beige, gray and off white, with the simple and subtle motifs for decoration, spoke of minds that wished for tranquility rather than the glamour that one gets from so many machine-made products of the same price. Handmade ceramics still have to win the hearts of the Bangladeshi bourgeoisie, especially when there is not the easy attraction of glitter and glamour in the presentation.
Maruf, speaking about the unique quality of the ceramic ware, said that they called their work 'Creative ceramics'. Although the form of their work was not dissimilar from normal tableware, their aestheticism was different from that
found elsewhere in Bangladesh among the works of younger artists. This made the exhibition different not only from industrial ceramics but also the run of the mill items available in the market within reach of the average ceramic lover's pockets. The collector will find unusual works of art. The ceramics have been fired at a very high temperature in the artists' kiln at Mirpur.
Asked to talk about the cost of the total set up, the kiln, the accessories, and studio, Maruf said that it was nearly Tk 15 lakhs. The artists have saved the necessary funds by the sale of their work for over three years. The display centre at Sunrise Plaza, Dhanmondi, will fortunately provide the outlet for the young artists from the middle of this month. Earlier, a few showrooms at Gulshan lapped up their products. As their set up had not been as big as now, the possibility of providing the stoneware products was limited. 'We want to reach out to the average buyer in Dhaka. Therefore, we don't go into anything that is time consuming and therefore expensive,' said Maruf.
Dwelling on the purpose of the show, Maruf explained 'The reason for the display is that people will
learn to appreciate soothing colours rather than the easy attraction of glamorous tints. We want to bring in subtlety and sophistication in the use of muted hues. We've used beige, gray and brown.' Added to the soft stoneware hues were dots, curls
and lines. The shapes were simple but unquestionably sophisticated.
One left the Zainul Gallery, wishing that more people with genuine appreciation for fine arts would visit the exhibition. Ceramic artwork still needs adequate patronage in Bangladesh.