Qayyum Chowdhury laid to rest

Artist Qayyum Chowdhury has been laid to rest at Azimpur graveyard after the simple and the celebrated paid their last respects throughout the day.

The 82-year-old Ekushey Padak and Independence Award-winning painter was buried at 4:40pm on Monday.

He collapsed on stage around 8:40pm on Sunday after addressing the audience on the third day of the Bengal Classical Music Festival being held at Dhaka’s Army Stadium.

The remains of Chowdhury, who transformed book cover design and illustration, were kept at the mortuary of Square Hospital overnight.

It was taken to Dhaka University’s Fine Arts Faculty, where he had studied and later taught, at around 11am on Monday.

Those who gathered there to pay their homage to the ‘artist of nature and people’ were in ‘grief of having list their guardians’.

Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin’s wife Jahanara Abedin also turned up there to see Chowdhury, one of the best students of her husband, for the last time.

Artist Mustafa Monwar told bdnews24.com: “Artist Qayyum Chowdhury created an extraordinary painting on the Liberation War – rifles in the hand of farmers with Gamchha (napkin) wrapped around their heads.”

Monwar said his painting also inspired the freedom-loving people to join the Liberation War in 1972.

Jahanara Abedin said: “Zainul liked him very much. He was good at painting. His demise is sudden. I just saw him and prayed for peace of his soul.”

Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts Prof Nisar Hossain said Chowdhury was the convener of the committee formed to celebrate Abedin’s birth centennial. He announced that the event would also celebrate life and work of Chowdhury.

His body was kept there for half an hour and then it was taken to the Central Shaheed Minar at the initiative of Sammilita Sangskritik Jote for people from all echelons of society to pay their homage to the artist.

his friends, colleagues, teachers and students, politicians and professionals thronged the Shaheed Minar premises to see Chowdhury for the last time.

Wreaths were placed at his coffin on behalf of President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, the Awami League, different socio-cultural organisations and eminent personalities.

Chowdhury loved music and so artistes rendered some of his favourites at the Shaheed Minar premises.

Chowdhury’s son Moinul Islam Zaber said: “He was not only an artist, but also my father. He was a great man. He is the pride of the nation. He has taken graphic design to its peak.”

Prof Anisuzzaman, who was at the function where Chowdhury died, said he collapsed after saying ‘I have something else I want to say’. He could not bear the pain of seeing Chowdhury die.

“His paintings were original and unique. We could unmistakably recognise his paintings when we would see them.”

Dhaka University Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique said: “We couldn’t know what he wanted to say. He has developed our sense of art. His demise is an irreparable loss.”

Actor Ramendu Majumder said Chowdhury might have wanted to say that his time was up. “We can't accept this death.”

Cultural activist Nasir Uddin Yusuf Bachchu said: “His style and idea have developed a discerning taste in art for the Bengalis. He painted the nature and Liberation War of Bangladesh with his brush.”

Artist Gazi Shahabuddin’s voice was breaking when he was talking about the loss of his friend.

“I’m feeling very bad. I’m missing him very much. (His death) is a great loss to us,” he said.

Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman said: “We’ve learned about artistic sense standing behind him. The contribution of this man to freedom of thought will be remembered for ever.

Artist Kalidas Karmakar called Chowdhury a ‘man of humanity’.

Chowdhury took to designing covers of books and illustration after graduation from the Art College in 1954. He formed ‘Painters Unit’ with artists Mortuza Bashir and Syed Jahangir in 1956.

Professor Chowdhury joined Dhaka Art College as a teacher in 1957. He got married in 1960 to Tehera Khanam, who was two batches junior to him at the institute.

He left teaching in 1960 and joined Design Center, headed by artist Qamrul Hassan, as a designer. A year later, he left Design Center and joined Observer Group of Publications as the chief artist. He also worked for cine-magazine Weekly Chitrali.

Chowdhury went back to Dhaka Art College in 1965 and retired from the institute in 1994 as a professor.

He received Ekushey Padak (Award) in 1986 and Swadhinata Puroshkar (Independence Award) this year in recognition of his work. He had many other local and international awards to his credit.

Chowdhury designed several currency notes in circulation.

Those who turned up at the Shaheed Minar also included artist Monirul Islam, researcher Mofidul Haque, journalist Kamal Lohani, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, human-rights activist Sultana Kamal, drama personalities Syed Hasan Imam and Mamunur Rashid, singer Sumana Haq, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Awami League leader Jahangir Kabir Nanok and BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Several organisations, including Bangla Academy, Shishu Academy, Dhaka University, Ministry of Information, JaSaD, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Liberation War Museum, Chhayanaut, Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee and Dhaka University Teachers Association, paid homage to the late artist.

From the Shaheed Minar, his body was taken to Dhaka University Central Mosque for funeral prayer. Later, it was taken to his Sheikh Saheb Bazar residence in Dhaka.

Another funeral prayer was held at Chhapra Mosque in Azimpur before he was buried at his father-in-law Khan Saheb Badruddin Ahmed’s grave.