THE antique glass chandelier or the mahogany statues of dancers and other artifacts collected from the bygone zamindar and nawab's palaces and ruins, give the Saju Art Gallery a grand look. And this aristocratic ambience of the gallery comes to viewers with the inauguration of the 10-day long art exhibition titled "Paintings 2005" on June 4. The Society for Promotion of Bangladesh Art (SPBA) in association with Saju Art Gallery organised this event of the Dhaka Art Circle (DAC) comprising of 14 contemporary artists of Bangladesh.

The exhibition was inaugurated by the Ambassador of Norway to Bangladesh, Aud Lise Norheim. This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Professor Samsul Islam Nijami, an artist of great creativity, talent and compassion, who died in 2004.

On the occasion as chief guest, Aud Lise Norheim stated "Bangladesh is an extremely colourful country. Art reflects our society, culture and time and the vibrant colours scattered in the country. The aesthetic aspects and conscience of the people are depicted in these paintings."

She thanked SPBA, Saju Art Gallery and DAC for their struggle in creating a taste for art in Bangladesh and their effort in giving opportunities to artists to express themselves through their creative works.

Elthem Kabir, chairman of the SPBA, who conducted the programme said, "This non-profit society embarked on its journey to promote Bangladeshi art in the outside world three to four years

ago. This was done with the help of a few art savvy friends." Regarding the exhibition he said, "This exhibition is dedicated to a great artist Samsul Islam Nijami."

"We have already organised a few exhibitions abroad such as France, uSA, Japan, India and published a very impressive book on Bangladeshi Art. And we plan to take our creative exhibits to Pakistan, uK and India soon."

Abu Taher, president of DAC said, "DAC was a group of 14 artists, which is down to 12 now. The organisation is dedicated to creativity and seeks to bring together the diverse styles of its

members through exhibitions. And this display is a rare opportunity for art lovers to experience the depth and passion of each of its 14 artists in one exhibition."

The exhibition of 54 paintings by Abu Taher, Samsul Islam Nijami, Golam Sarwar, Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, Mohammed Mohsin, Pranesh Mandal, Syed Enayet Hossain, Anwarul Huq, Rezaul Karim, Biren Shome, Swapan Chowdhury, Abdus Shakoor, Chandra Shekhar Dey and Rafi Haque, provided a glimpse into the rich artistic culture of Bangladesh and the depth and passion of the artists on a wide range of art forms

like oil on canvas, watercolour, acrylic and mixed media.

The works of these contemporary painters are more varied, more experimental with the medium and the forms. The best feature of this exhibition is that it houses works of all types of artists on all conceivable themes.

A brochure was published and distributed among viewers which contained details about the art forms and the artists.

The show will run till June 14 at Saju Art Gallery, DCC North Super Market, Gulshan-2.

Grameen Phone sponsored the exhibition.