“I remember the faces of dead children on the streets while fleeing from our home in Chuadanga town to a remote village near the border. I remember the siren, the sound of bombs landing from above.”
Fourty-four years on, Iqbal’s imagination is still saturated with plight of children living amid war and terror, not just in Bangladesh, but all over the world.
‘I paint what I perceive as the ideal face of a child,” he said when asked why they bore the same features. “I place no stress on their young, innocent faces.”
True. In the canvas of sky blue, blood red or black, they were safe, despite the chaos dominating their backgrounds. Eyes bloomed and floated off.
“The double imagery of the eyes is my own style, but movement on canvas began with Impressionism.”
The traditional red Japanese gate emerged out of the dark, an element from the matured artists long, extensive stay and studies on government scholarship in Japan.
“I’ve known Iqbal for long and his previous exhibitions had more abstract works, said Asaduzzaman Noor, who inaugurated the exhibition.
“I believe his worries about the decaying world and its mortifying effects on children are evident in the ones he painted in black,” said the minister of cultural affairs.
Ancient rockstars
As for civilisation’s chains and fetters, Iqbal has painted another world beyond it.
“We never say this, but Iqbal is a direct student of mine," says
artist Rafiqun Nabi. “I used to notice his drawings and use of colours. While others experimented, he strictly followed his academic rules.”
“He was in his final year when he became drawn to Shadhus, Sannyasis and Bauls. He has held on to them. They are still his favourite elements.
The mystics had taken over the walls. With dried faces, lean bodies and wise eyes they peered from the dark, held buffalo horns and held their arms open to a saint on a red or blue sunset.
The Musician, mixed media on paper, stared back holding his ‘Dotara’ like a rock star.
Others, entering a mail train in the dark, were recognisable only by Iqbal’s dash of orange on one of their waists.
“There was a man who used to run a tea store at Chhabir Haat, opposite to Charukola. Mollah bhai. I used to chat with him and his friends who resembled him … long hair, grey beard …prune-like face,” said Iqbal.
“Then I went to the ‘Nengtar Mela’ at Beltoli in Comilla. My eyes opened as I saw thousands of them living, dancing, singing, smoking … engrossed in their own worlds.”
The Japanese connection
“My style is individual, my very own creation, it is not influenced by my stay in Japan.
"What I did find in Japan was the vast array of art materials I have never seen before and I put them to use,” said the artist, who now teaches in his old department at Charukola.
“I apply layers after layers of paint until I achieve the background I need for my subject. The semi-translucent dots I put on my oil paintings are unprecedented.”
“It took me 10 and a half years in Japan. Getting another Master’s degree is a condition for students on government scholarship.”
“There is a rich connection between Bangladesh and Japan,” said Masato Watanabe, Japan’s envoy to Dhaka. “(Rabindranath) Tagore and Japanese artist Okakura Tenshin exchanged letters.”
“Tenshin introduced Japanese modern art which reflected the traditional.” This was done during the Meiji era during which dramatic westernisation took place, according to the Tenshin Museum of Art.
“Tenshin passed away before Tagore went to Japan for a lecture tour in 1916,” said the ambassador. “But the tour had inspired groups of artists from Bengal and Japan to exchange ideas.”
“They both focussed on looking east … enriching our own cultures and shunning western domination,” said Iqbal.
Tenshin was one of the founders of Tokyo University of the Arts where Iqbal got his PhD from.
Iqbal, who received several top awards in Japan, began his journey from primary school.
“There were no art classes then but our headmaster noticed my efforts, One day he called me to his room and gave me a set of colours. I was so happy. He send me to national competitions and I participated in all of them.”
“I’ve been speaking to Charukola about setting up exchange programmes with Japanese Universities. I’ve already, sort of unofficially, sent one of my students to Hokkaido University.”
An exhibition by university teachers will also be held at Tokyo as part of the programme.
“More students will come to Bangladesh, continually.”
The exhibition sponsored by the ADN group will be at Galleri Kaya from Aug 22 to Sep 5.