A 17-day group art exhibition titled ‘Native Rhythm’ organised by Gallery Jolrong, highlighting traditional art forms of Bangladesh and modern art inspired by traditional art, is going on at the gallery in Banani.
The special show, with artist Shawon Akand as curator, put on display a total of 68 artworks including acrylic paintings, ink and pen drawings, mixed media works, rickshaw paintings, shakher hari (decorated earthen pots), pot chitra (swara) and others.
Seven eminent and promising artists including Abdus Shakoor Shah, Nazir Hossain, Nikhil Chandra Das, RK Das, Raghunath Chakraborty, Shukumar Paul and Sushanto Pal from Dhaka and across the country have participated in the exposition.
Though the participants are divided into three groups-graduates of art institutions, self-taught artists and traditional artists -- and have chosen varied media and methods, a commonality prevails in their subjects, theme and message, in the artworks popularising traditional art forms.
Traditional festivals Baishakh, Chaitra Sankranti, Pahela Phalgun; folk ballad characters -Mahua, Nader Chand, Behula; rural professions like farmers, fisher-men;  varied folk motifs, animals, horses, elephants, tigers, cows, goats and birds are frequently visited in their works.
Ten recent paintings by Professor Shakoor Shah, done on acrylic and mixed media on canvases, depict folk ballads of Mymensingh Geetika. Characters and motifs from folk ballads are the force of the compositions on his fabulous paintings highlighting their struggling life, anguish, festivity and love. The painting ‘Mahua and Nader Chand’ shows imaginary portraits of both folk characters-standing side by side, exuding love between them.
Self-taught artist Nazir Hossain’s paintings allegorically take the Royal Bengal Tigers to symbolize might. Tame animals, cleavers, and others on the pavement of traditional folk culture, is the distinct feature of his paintings. Artist RK Das, considered a pioneer artist of rickshaw paintings, presented eye-catching acrylic paintings. Traditional artist Sushanta Pal’s decorated earthen pots also added dimension to the show.
Other participants’ exclusive artworks also earned art connoisseurs’ acclaim.
The diverse artworks on display have nicely supported each other creating a soothing ambience.
The exhibition, which began on April 4, will remain open from 10:00am to 8:00pm till April 20.