Story of Hill exhibition ends on Indigenous Day at EMK
EMK Center invited the artist and the curator of the virtual exhibition to discuss the stories behind the exhibition and the exhibited artworks.
Virtual exhibition Story of Hill ended with a closing ceremony at the EMK Center of Dhaka, on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples 9 August 2021, read a press release.
The virtual exhibition, created through an augmented reality platform on EMK Center's website, exhibited 36 artworks on life of the people at Bangladesh's Chattagram hill tracts area. His artworks focus on how the lives of people at hill tract areas are influenced by different factors and changes, both natural and manmade. The exhibition was curated by Subrata Das, an Associate Professor of the Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Chittagong.
EMK Center invited the artist and the curator of the virtual exhibition to discuss the stories behind the exhibition and the exhibited artworks.
Subrata Das, the curator of the exhibition, narrated his experience with different communities living in the hill tract areas of Chattagram. "I was fascinated by the cultural diversity of the people of Chattagram hill tracts and through this exhibition, I wanted to let the people know about their lives and promote the cultural diversity of different communities," said Subrata Das.
Artist Jayatu Chakma explained his different artworks and shared the stories behind them as well. While explaining one of his artworks, where he painted a jhum farmer with an Iron Man mask, he claimed, "In hill tract areas it is more difficult to cultivate and produce grains, and I believe the jhum farmers of the hills are no less than superheroes."
Jayatu Chakma has done a series of works on triangular canvas that highlights the lives at hilly areas of Bangladesh and how their lives have changed due to the Kaptai hydroelectric dam. "A good number of people had to leave their villages in fear of getting inundated when the dam was built," he claimed, "I tried to bring that on my canvases."
The program was moderated by Aaqib Md. Shatil, program coordinator of the EMK Center.
The virtual exhibition Story of Hill started on July 19 and continued till August 9, on the EMK Center's website. It was visited by around a thousand people, virtually.