“Searching Our Roots" is the apt title for a recent group exhibition that featured the works of 14 artists. The exhibition is a spin-off of an art camp held in June this year. The talented artists were immersed in nature and were greatly moved. The camp's main purpose was to highlight the nature, culture and environment of Bangladesh in paintings. The participants were drawn from different departments of the Institute of Fine Arts. This outdoor camp was a platform for the exchange of views and concepts by the artists.

The artists share similar themes but each has distinctive technique and world view.

The participating artists are Hamiduzzaman Khan, Ivy Zaman, Russell, Rania, Rubel. Kochi, Tarin, Khairul. Tonu, Bulbul, Tuntun. Shormi, Ainul and Saifur. Here’s a look at some » of their works and themes:

Hamiduzzaman Khan is celebrated for his distinguished work and thought-provoking themes. His dedication to art is praiseworthy. From the beginning, Hamid has been busy with the creation of the novel and innovative, which is very close to the bucolic community, and their way of life. Hamid, who has involved himself with the contemporary art movement of Bangladesh, works with zeal, courage and creativity.

in the an world, sculpture is a male dominated medium However in Bangladesh, the situation is quite different. Among the talented female sculptors is Ivy Zaman. Amidst the forms and shapes of her sculptures, the underlying message is the eternal beauty of nature. Her abiding love for nature dates back to her childhood days in Bogra, where she and her friends used to stroll on the banks of the river Korotoa till the small hours of the night. They were enraptured by the boats with lanterns and the reflection of the silver moonlight on the river. Other enduring memories are those of flocks of birds winging their way home and silent darkness — all of which are expressed in lively and innovative ways in her work.

Russell has internalised the inner essence of nature in most of his works at the exhibition. A diverse aspect of pastoral life is his main concern. That is why his works refer to our roots. His semiabstract works of rural landscapes and the transparent technique are boosted by his use of the background from the romantic view. His space is filled up with

objects and he is largely immersed in the blissful depiction of Bangladesh. His strokes are polished and different, sometimes almost pattern-like.

In this exhibition, Rania tries to express her feelings through ingenious compositions and colours. Canvas is a field of celebration of triumph and a space of painful vision. She gets fulfilment by creating something, which moves her soul. An artist creates his or her own language with colour on canvas.

Tarin's work expresses the aesthetic beauty of a village. By means of her sweeping brush strokes and warm colours, the canvas is transformed. Her work is basically a depiction of a landscape with rural nature viewed through trees, birds and a dense forest. Though the subject is simple, Tarin makes their movements complicated through watercolour. Luminous deluge of colours breathes into her paintings more liveliness and transparency.

Kochi has used a lot of brown and beige as well as blue. She didn't deliberately put it there with some particular thought behind it. In one of the watercolours is a native hut surrounded by green trees and woods.

Tonu's search for beauty and truth has influenced her to hold up in her images a vibrant blithe picture of splendour. She tries to present synchronisation of colours in her works with little pretension. She has used colours with subdued splendour for giving a distinct message through her works.

Walking into the exhibition, one feels as if he or she has entered a vibrant green atmosphere. As nature lovers, the participants have played with variods vit^EolouK. which ban be easily recognised. Simple lives of the common people, fishing in rivers, harvesting and cultivating in the alluvial soil, sailing boats in the river, moonlit night, jute and paddy-loaded boat and other scenic images of pastoral life are the common features of their works. The green tree, the cloud, the birds, the rain, the deep blue water, the rural people, peasants, village women are the main subjects of their works.

The exhibition is on at Alliance Francaise de Dacca and ends on September 18.

The writer is a freelance contributor.