Art Gallery of Mississauga, Canada
15 November 2021 – 12 January 2022
Lighting the Fire of Freedom: Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman exhibition from Dhaka Art Summit 2020, is travelling to Art Gallery of Mississauga, Canada to celebrate the 50th year celebration of Bangladesh. This exhibition is produced by Samdani Art Foundation and the Centre for Research and Information (CRI) in partnership with the Art Gallery of Mississauga and South Asian Gallery of Art. Alongside there will be another exhibition, ‘Art of the Young Nation: Bangladesh’ where Bangladeshi masters and contemporary artists will showcase their works. Curated by Ruxmini Reckvana Q Choudhury, the show offers intimate and little-known details about the life and work of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975), the founding father of Bangladesh. To celebrate his birth centenary, the exhibition takes visitors on a chronological journey of his life, mapping out the ways in which he addressed the challenges facing the land now known as Bangladesh. Many of the materials are on display for the first time, including personal photographs, newspapers, historic video footage, interactive audiovisual content, and modern and contemporary artworks. Paintings from celebrated artist Zainul Abedin, including from his iconic famine series depicting hunger and displacement in wartime colonial Bengal (1943–1944), will be shown alongside paintings from Bangladeshi artists such as Shahabuddin Ahmed, Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty and Saiyad Saif Ali, that respond to Bangabandhu’s ideas and legacy. Through this rich variety of archival and contemporary materials, Lighting the Fire of Freedom assembles the historic moments of the formation of the nation, from Bengal Presidency under British rule to East Pakistan and finally to Bangladesh, where his legacy remains alive to this day.
‘Art of a Young Nation: Bangladesh’ curated by Ali Adil Khan and assisted by Ruxmini Reckvana Q Choudhury, celebrates 50 years of Bangladesh, showcasing its vibrant arts and distinct culture from the past, the present and the future. The 38 artists in this exhibition include Zainul Abedin, S.M. Sultan, Rashid Choudhury, Murtaja Baseer, Debdas Chakraborty, Mohammad Kibria, Monirul Islam, Qayyum Chowdhury, Hashem Khan, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Kalidas Karmakar, Biren Shome, Shahid Kabir, Abdus Shakoor Shah, Farida Zaman, Rokeya Sultana, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Dilara Begum Jolly, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Hamiduzzaman Khan, Mahbubur Rahman, Mohammad Eunus, Mahmudul Haque, Mohammad Iqbal, Anisuzzaman Anis, Biswajit Goswami, Kuhu Plamondon, Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Vinita Karim, Bipasha Hayat, Maksuda Iqbal Nipa and from the diaspora, Alamgir Huque (Saskatoon), Syed Iqbal, Tajuddin Ahmed, Iftikaruddin Ahmed (Toronto), Mohammad Fakruzzaman (London, UK) and Md. Tokon (New York). The Art Gallery of Mississauga is a public, not-for-profit, art gallery in the city of Mississauga, Ontario that provides platforms for exhibitions, collections and experimentation in contemporary culture with a recent focus on artists and cultural producers from Indigenous, newcomer and youth communities. Through a broad range of educational programs, artist projects and other forms of critical dialogue, the AGM seeks to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, foster community, and provide spaces where alternative modes of thought are supported and activated in tangible ways.
