Mayabi Bonsai: A breath of fresh air in the concrete jungle
A bonsai artist and collector, Laila Ahmed has been holding solo exhibitions since 2016. But this is the first time she is organising one on her own rooftop that showcases her huge collection of these plants
Laila Ahmed, a 50-year-old bonsai artist, has been passionate about plants since her childhood. She did not receive any formal education in bonsai art, but her deep-rooted love for the greeneries radiated her skills in this art form resulting in a sublime collection of over 1,500 bonsai plants and 1,000 odd trained plants on her rooftop alone. Her home felt like a breath of fresh air in the concrete jungle we call Dhaka.
"Passionate would be an understatement, I have been addicted to the concept of bonsai art since I visited a bonsai exhibition in 1999. After that, I gave my heart and soul to learning about bonsai culture and have been doing so for 22 years," said Laila.
'Mayabi Bonsai' is a three-day solo exhibition by Laila Ahmed, running from 15 to 17 December at Malibagh, Shapnil Apartment. As the name refers, Laila truly feels affectionate towards this age-old craft and shared how impactful this art can be at today's age.
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"The more time is passing by, the more we are losing elements of nature around us. We are not leaving an inch while building a house but forgetting about trees which keep us alive. To adjust for the space issue while incorporating the greeneries, bonsai should be popularised and more people should be adept in the art of bonsai." said Laila.
Although Laila has been holding solo exhibitions since 2016, this is the first time she held an exhibition on her own rooftop. However, given a large number of plants, the exhibition needed another floor, which was a beautifully designed open studio, perfectly accessible to light. Bonsai is an art that requires perseverance and relentless effort, so a large portion of the exhibited collection was more than 20 years old.
"If someone wants to start from the seeds, it will require almost 4-5 years to turn the plant into the bonsai form. If you start from the bough, it will take 2 years only."
What's even more fascinating is that she did not remain confined to mainstream bonsai planting. She explored diverse plants from local to foreign plants and merged the idea of sculpture and bonsai art to deliver a unique view.
More precisely, Bangladeshi bonsai artists primarily focus on ficus plants, but Laila's exhibition showcases a variety of flowering and non-flowering bonsai trees along with different kinds of ficus.
According to Laila, she was the first person in Bangladesh to create bonsai with flower plants. We observed vibrant bougainvillaea, hibiscus, hijol flower, Nishinda, Silver-dust and many other plants in their miniature forms. The Hijol plant was more than 20 years old, looking majestic around the other smaller bonsais, built in the twin trunk style.
The ancient ashoth, exotic Barbados chillies and fragrant almond bonsai trees were beautifully formed with utmost care and belong to Laila Ahmed's premium collection, all set in clay pots from Rajshahi.
However, the sculptured bonsais seem to draw the most attention. These are done with Pakur plant and China bot mostly, where she tries to build different landscapes, hands and rustic houses by carving the cement and bricks delicately around the Bonsai.
Laila's exhibition presented a vast collection of bonsais, formed from Pakur trees, some of them aged 30 years. She said it is the easiest plant to create a miniature and Deshi Bot must be the most difficult one to work with. Pakur trees were presented in different styles, like informal upright, sculpture-styled, slanting and more.
Laila's bonsai art exhibition felt like a reverie in a society that runs in a robotic paradigm. To inspire the world to embrace plants as generously as they care for us, a middle-aged woman with four children transformed a hobby into a vocation.
