Page 3 - kibria

Shahid Kabir

Shahid Kabir was born in Barishal, Bangladesh, in 1949.

His subjects, drawn from real life experiences, are
depicted in mild impasto and a painterly fluidity, and the
result is both evocative and sensuous. His empathetic
stance and powerful insight have established him as an
important painter and printmaker in Bangladesh.

Kabir graduated from the Government College of Arts
and Crafts in Dhaka in 1969 and attained fame for his
series on Lalon and Baul as early as in the 1980s. He
left for Spain in 1981, only to resurface in the Dhaka art
scene in 1997 after a gap of 17 years. The formative
years spent in Europe added a fuller dimension to his
earlier practice. And as he came back home, he did so
with gusto introducing a simple idiom that thrives on

depiction, or rather, on creating an impression of every-
day reality and objects. Water vessels, teapots, flower
vase and rotten fruits thus serve as metonymic
reference to a world where one roams with empathy as
guide. Brick fields, riverscapes and working women
also appear in his paintings. The overall look is faded
and unembellished, evoking a sense of pathos.

Notable among his awards are the Carmen
Aroshamduzamena Prize, Madrid (1984). He taught in
the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Dhaka, for
nine years, until 1980. Kabir is a freelance painter who
divides his time between Dhaka and Madrid.