artist writes
Change and its cycle
A city always takes its own course and changes through time. Some changes are not really desirable, and they make deeper impressions in our hearts. In this materialistic civilization, changes occur without taking much into consideration the needs of the people at large. In the name of modernization, we often become witnesses to changes that annul one's love for another, bin tradition and pollute environment pushing them into the back seat. Subsequently, in our minds we continue to rediscover the deep emotions attached to all these, sifting through the pages of memory, tracking the changes that left a deep impression.
Impressions are left in all, but it is in the young hearts that their marks are more visible. In this project I collaborated with students of Dhaka Muslim Government High School to find a common ground.
The backgrounds of my art works consist of digitally manipulated photos and they represent the status quo. With the dotted images I wanted to connect the artistic world to the real world where instability, frustration thrive as reality continuously makes its incursions into our privately constructed worlds making us look dwarf-like in front of the power and its tools of hegemony. The modernized techno-human turns into a virtual entity compared to the homo sapiens of flesh and blood. Capital and its systematic onslaughts on human society also degrade Mother Nature. Every thing seems like a process of annihilation, therefore against the society where once we were united to ensure that the greater goals of humanity are achieved by connecting to one another.
Over an infant's crying face, when students began to draw, they simply followed no rules. They freely chose their subject matters – from a basket of food to scenes from the wars waged on different countries and also wars that have been brought on by spurious claims and by imperial design, as was the case in Palestine, the state that is now divided following the Balfour Declaration. However, war for children is just plain evil – a parasite that destroys every thing.
War stands in contrast to humanity, memory stands in contrast to unwanted changes, and all these are a way for artists to voice their dissent. This project using the face of a baby is not only an interactive space but also an ongoing artistic endeavour – one that directly addresses the urban, social, global issue of change that never benefits the people and their environment.