A weeklong solo painting exhibition, titled "Pater Gaan Banglar Bagh”, is on at Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhanmondi, in the capital. Director General of Bangla Academy, Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan, inaugurated the exhibition on July 5. The exhibition features 62 works of self-taught artist Nazir Hossain.

Craft researcher and artist Shekhar Saha was a special guest at the opening. Director of Bengal Gallery, Subir Chowdhury, and Nazir Hossain also spoke on the occasion.

“The essence of our time-honoured folk art is no more found in the works of contemporary artists. I won't say that Nazir's works represent our folk art; rather I will term these as popular art that induce a sense of glee within," said Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan.

In his contributory article, printed in the catalogue, prominent art critic Mainuddin Khaled writes: “Folk tales are no stranger to our art. From Zainul-Quamrul to Abdus Shakoor, everyone has used folk elements to enrich their painting. In his works, Nazir has touched a new originality. I think Nazir is one of the most inventive of artists in creativity-prone, artistic Bengal.”

Born in 1982 at Parbatipur, Dinajpur district, Nazir developed a hobby of collecting newspaper and magazine clippings containing cultural news, pictures of arts, and folk motifs. He loved to rearrange these — forming new compositions. His fascination with collages and motif gradually shaped his artistic sensibilities that led

him to try his hand at painting.

The subject of his paintings at the ongoing exhibition is the Bengal tiger, and the style of portrayal has been inspired by the indigenous art form 'Pata Chitra'. Nazir has developed a personal hallmark, employing elements horn our folk art. His canvas imagines the allegorical world of tigers, peacocks and other creatures, co-existing with humans, often in comical, rickshaw art-like imagery.

An unrestrained dynamism, combined with patriotic spirit, is noticeable in Nazir's works (acrylic on paper and canvas). The male characters in his works are wearing the national flag of Bangladesh as headband. At the opening of the exhibition, the artist himself was wearing red-and-green as a headband. Another eccentric and delightful feature is his depiction of tigers, taking part in the national movements.

Though comical in certain cases, some paintings address the need for ecological balance and peaceful co-existence: a tiger playing sharinda (musical instrument) ; a farmer cleaning his ear with a tiger's tail (as an age-old Bangla adage goes); two tigers drawing a plough and more.

Nazir's paintings have been exhibited at 50 schools across Bangladesh. He has had 19 solo, and several group exhibitions, including participation in the 18th Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh (2008) and 18th (2008) and 19th (2009) National Art Exhibitions, organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

The exhibition is open from 12-8pm everyday and will end on July 11.