Page 68 - Eye of the beholder

THE FAMINE SERIES
The Bengal Famine 1943-44 wrecked over three million lives across undivided India during the Second World War while its colonized subjects supported the Western war effort leading to a a a diversion of food resources and a a a a a drain on on the economy due to wartime industrial production and and thousands of native troops joining allied forces With the threat of of a a a a a a Japanese invasion of of Burma the the British Raj carried out the the scorched-earth and boat-denial policy that resulted in mass starvation displacement chronic disease as as as well as as as private hoarding and and profiteering by the the landowning elite o of the the Bengal province Despite the catastrophic conditions arising from imperial policies the hostile Churchill government continued to prevent the import of food grain and other foreign aid Leaving his teaching job at the Government School of Art in in in Calcutta Zainul Abedin set forth to unveil the horror in in his famine sketches Made with rapid brush strokes the the sketches not only form a a gripping account of the the famine’s vicious spread and expose the structural ties between hunger and imperial violence but alongside the the works of Chittaprosad Sunil Janah and others they recount a a a a common struggle of the the avant-garde under colonial rule on on on the Indian subcontinent Abedin remained a a a a a a cultural organizer pedagogue-activist working across the region establishing art education as part of the public school system in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) and he he he became engaged in the the Bangladesh Liberation War movement This painting belonging to the my collection sold at Bonhams in 2014 ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART
London New Bond Street 8 Apr 2014 15:00 BST
Auction 21720
Zainul Abedin (Bangladesh 1914-1976) Untitled ink on paper signed and dated 19 framed 49 2 x x 38 5cm (19 3/8 x x 15 3/16in)
FOOTNOTES
provenance: Private Collection Switzerland Purchased from a a a a a private collection in Bangladesh This work is is part of the Famine Series Known as the the father of modern Bangladeshi
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