Return to roots

Bangla Terracotta has organised a clay art exhibition at Drik Gallery, Dhanmondi in the city. Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, vice chancellor of Dhaka University recently inaugurated the exhibition as chief guest. Designer Chandrashekhar Saha and artist Sukumar Paul were also present as special guests at the inaugural session. A number of artists, cultural and social activists were present.The exhibition presents a unique collection of terracotta art that carries our tradition. This genre of art is the earliest form of art in which the Bengal artists excelled. The art products in terracotta or burnt clay satisfied the creative impulse of the artists and also met the domestic and ritual needs of ordinary people. The art was practised in Bengal from the earliest through early medieval to medieval times and even continued to Hindu monuments till the mid-19th century.The exhibition features about 50 terracotta artworks and colourful pottery. Among the clay pottery, plates, glasses, vases, jugs and other daily utensils are on display. Birds, fish, cats, tigers, deer, trees and varied animated and inanimate objects have appeared with all their beauty in the clay artworks at the exhibition. The daily lives of commoners of different occupations, rural women and their varied moods, peasants, fishermen and villagers’ daily chores have also been highlighted at the exhibition.