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Alakesh Ghosh in his exhibition titled ‘The Forms and Poetry of Nature’ presents the myriad moods of nature.
   Not only have the seasonal changes of nature, the changes of hues in different moments been captured on the canvases of this top artist of watercolour.
   Alakesh’s sky, in most cases, is dark. In some paintings, the viewers do not get any colour of sky, just white.
   To present the landscape of the country, the artist portrays rivers, river-side habitations on a vast canvas, the traditional sailing boats, paddy fields, grazing of cattle, the old section of Dhaka city and the historical Panam Nagar in Narayanganj.
   Alakesh’s landscape provides a different appeal when he depicts the hilly terrain.
   The terraces of hills and the valleys create grandeur and take the viewers’ eyes to a far-reaching world.
   He plays with the shades of colours. His green gives a blackish look which may reflect the artist’s inner pathos.
   Sometimes, Alakesh’s black becomes grey and sometimes his blue becomes darker.
   In fact, the playing of light and shadow – or chiaroscuro — in the paintings creates a celestial feeling in the minds of the viewers. Alakesh presents a vast horizon in depicting his subjects, particularly the landscapes.
   The viewers get the charm of this vastness, featured by many objects, including the presence of people.
   His rivers are also vast and the sailing boats are of big size and loaded with goods.
   The bustle of people in the river-ghats, in particular, expresses their liveliness.
   But he did not forget to depict the boats lying empty on the banks of the rivers.
   The artist’s paintings of the old part of Dhaka portrays the busy life of the people, but his intentional use of darker blue in depicting the walls of the buildings and the lanes draw the viewers to another world, which is full of pains, pangs and sufferings.
   The images of the ruins of Panam Nagar establish the artist’s emotional inclination towards the world of sadness.
   Alakesh’s portraits of people, mainly of the ethnic communities, present them as hardworking and also as the victims of poverty.
   The exhibition will remain open for all from 12:00pm to 8:00pm till May 5 at the Bengal Shilpalaya in Dhanmondi.

A week-long first solo photography exhibition of Prottoy Karmakar, aged five years, began at Alliance Française in Dhaka on Friday.
   The show features 20 photographs snapped on the life and works of the potters’ community called Paal.
   Opening the show, former foreign secretary Wali-ur Rehman said, ‘Prottoy is an artist in the making with great potential.’
   Referring to Prottoy’s uncle Kalidas Karmakar, an eminent artist, Alliance Française deputy director Laurent Jalicous said, ‘There is no better proof that art and talent run into this family.’
   Prottoy’s father Prashanta Karmakar Buddha, who attended the opening, said, ‘Prottoy always wanted a camera of his own. And when he was given a camera, he took the photograph of a tree. And that was the beginning.’
   Prashanta said he took away the camera from him fearing it might go out of order if it remained with him. After printing the film, Prashanta found that the photographs looked beautiful. He bought the boy another camera and helped him taking photographs of the potters who live at Phulbaria in Mymensingh where Prottoy’s mother, Hashi Talukdar, worked.
   The exhibition will remain open every day between 9:00am and noon and 5:00pm and 8:00pm till May 4. The show on Saturday will remain open only in the afternoon.
   Another week-long solo exhibition of the works of Robi Khan began at La Galerie of the Alliance Française on Thursday.
   Art critic Syed Jahangir opened the show as chief guest. Artist Nisar Hossain was present as special guest.

Jack Valenti, Hollywood’s film industry lobbyist who developed the modern US movie ratings system, has died aged 85.
   He died of complications resulting from his stroke in March at his Washington home, said Seth Oster of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
   Valenti had led the MPAA for 38 years, introducing the G, PG, R and X film ratings system. He retired in 2004.
   Earlier in his career, Valenti had been an aide to Presidents John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
   He was in the motorcade when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963.
   As the man who represented the Hollywood industry in Washington, Valenti was a fierce opponent of film piracy, crusading for copyright enforcement.
   He also abolished the industry’s restrictive Hays code, which prohibited explicit violence and sex on the screen.