Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born at Tongipara in the district of Gopalganj in 1920. Another prominent artist named Jainul Abedin was born in the district of Kishoreganj in 1914. They were almost contemporary. Mujib was an aesthetic artist of politics. He established an independent sovereign Bangladesh, leading the independence struggle of the Bengali nation. Jainul had a close relationship with Bangabandhu. They followed the same ideology and path in mind. These two Bengali great men have worked for a long time in the development of Bengali culture. After independence, the father of the nation entrusted Jainul to sketch the Constitution of Bangladesh. He performs that duty well.
Later, Bangabandhu also gave the responsibility of setting up Bangladesh Folk and Craft Foundation in Sonargaon. Jainul Abedin was a human artist of common nature. The biography, pain and suffering of the common people was the subject matter of this great artist. Jainul depicted the untold sufferings by his famine pictures of 1943. And at the same time he pointed out the failures and negligence of British rulers towards the common people. After the great storm devastation in the southern part of the country in 1970 Bangabandhu had rushed to the affected people.
Artist Jainul Abedin could not stay home that day. He too has traveled around the area with relief commodities. From there, the artist drew his famous painting “Manpura-70”. The 30-foot long artworks evoking the horrors of the cyclone, also pointed to the determination of the Bengalis to stand. Many of today’s generation may not know that, artist Jainul Abedin visited Palestine in 1970 and drew sketches of Palestinian warriors on the battlefield and arranged for display in several Arab countries. By doing so, he extended his direct support and cooperation to the Palestinian demands. Artist Jainul Abedin was not only an artist, he also led the transition in the art culture of Bangladesh.
As a student, he was extraordinarily talented, completing his education in the first place. After passing of the apprenticeship, it was difficult for Jainul Abedin to find his way as a creative artist. He was shattered from the stagnant world of the backward village-culture of East Bengal and rushed Kolkata, the epicenter of Indian politics. Indian politics then swelled with the passion and excitement of the independence, the Indian Muslims are in agitation with separate ethnicity. The poisoning of communalism was gradually engulfing the subcontinent.
On the contrary, in his experience there was a simple work-life scene of Pallibangla, and the teaching of analogical drawing of the Kolkata Art School. It is to be remembered that at that time, when Western art crossed the stage of Fubism-Expressionism beyond the control of realistic representation of objects and reached Dada-Suraialism. Information technology and print industry were not as advanced and accessible as they are today, so the massage of changed perception became a subject of less attention to the Indians.
Throughout the fifties, East Pakistan was the period of nationalist consciousness of middle-class Bengali and the emergence of non-communal progressive politics and culture, which is today recognized in the international recognition of Ekushey February. With this developing background and training and travel opportunities abroad at the early age of fifty, Jainul’s mindset and creativity helped develop. We notice that the fifties were one of the most productive periods of his creativity. It is important to note that the change in his viewpoint was important for the first time traveling to Europe in the year 1951-52 and the opportunity to work at London’s School of the Arts.
This is his first direct acquaintance with contemporary painters in the West. The geometric distortion of the form, leaving him in harmony, attracted him, bringing awareness to the need for exaggeration forms in art. However, like his younger ones, this renewed appreciation made him more introverted, not westward. Sitting on a foreign land, he discovered the face of his homeland. In the tradition of indigenous art, he saw Amitabh Bachchan, the inspiration for applying it to contemporary art. This prominence reflects an important aspect of Jainul’s psyche, which once again reflects his downward-looking artistic aspirations.
The power of the line is an indelible mark of Jainul’s power and autonomy in his work. He came from a rural source in East Bengal and his constant position in the purification of the citizenry did not take away this rurality. In his work, he also wants to inspire a strong and unyielding rurality. For this, Jainul had to invent a different and mixed art form. In addition to the natural and real shape and the distribution of colors and shades of the western style, he planned the outline of the object to be a strong and velocity pile, which simultaneously gave shape, strength and velocity to the object’s structure.
Jainul’s views on the Japanese and Chinese curiosity and the dramatic appeal of the strong black line in the white imagery were probably not ignored by Jainul. On the other hand, Rekha’s extraordinary expression in the folklore of Bengal must have attracted him. Therefore, the line of Jainul should not be judged under any particular style or type. The combination of western art, influence of the Bengal school, country folk art, Chinese and Japanese lines may have created Jainul’s own style, which contained his content and speech. The lines are so boxy and lively that they can evoke intense emotional reactions in famine sketches or in the Manpura scroll without the use of color.
We do not know if Jainul Abedin’s artwork will ever be recognized for times immemorial. However, it may be said that Jainul Abedin is the name of a pioneer in the sub-continent’s art industry. In his creations, nature and man emerged in strong energy. The importance of artist Jainul Abedin is of immense importance in the society and cultural environment of Bangladesh. He was a true artist of common man as he was the pioneer of the modern art movement in this country. He has been known all over the world for his artworks in 1943 famine. As nature, culture and heritage of Bengal have been portrayed, the image of the struggle of life of Bengal became embodied in his art works. To him, art is the manifestation of life itself. And the purpose of this is to make human society volatile and pleasant.
Before the establishment of beauty in society, it is necessary to remove all nastiness from there. Economic, social and visible inequalities are among those nasty elements. Jainul was focused solely on establishing that overall and integrated environment throughout his four decades of artistic life. Through which it became possible to continue the meaningful aesthetic practice. His art always spoke of the common man. He himself came from that community. He illustrates all their lives, their endless struggles, their hopes and aspirations through his paintings with sincerity. By watching his artistic work, our present artists, the local and foreign visitors will get a great idea about our quality art. New artists will be encouraged and our art campus will enrich.
(Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed, writer, columnist & researcher)