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adhunika > heroes among us > kanak chanpa chakma |
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Kanak Chanpa Chakma 1963 -
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I have known Kanak Chanpa Chakma since April 2002,
when she and her husband conducted an exhibition and charity auction of their
paintings at the Dutch Club. The purpose was to raise money for someone from
Rangamati who needed a kidney operation. Since then I have become great friends
with this artist couple.
Kanak was born in 1963 in the Rangamati Hill Tracts,
in a small town named Tabal Chari, a remote hill area. It is surrounded by Lake
Karnaphuly and the people live in the upper part of the hills. Her father is a
retired businessman and her mother is a textile designer and weaver who has
twice won national awards for her work.
Kanak has Masters in Fine Arts from Dhaka University.
She also studied at Penn State University in the US. She has held many
exhibitions in Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, China, India, Nepal and
Bangladesh.
Kanak is married to Khalid Mahmood Mithu, who is also
a freelance artist involved in film, video and photography. They have two
children.
At the age of one and a half, Kanak started
"painting". Her teachers always encouraged her and entered her painting in
competitions. Her parents decided to send Kanak to art school.
Kanak considers her artistic talent as a gift from
God. She is inspired by the designs of her mother, the bright colours of tribal
fabric, the hills, islands, blue water and water falls, as well as Rangamati
dance and music that she has captured in her paintings.
Kanak is happy that, through her paintings, she can
let people in Bangladesh and abroad know the rich aspects of the Chakma life,
such as its closeness to nature and its ancestral rituals.
Kanak says her studio is open to any UNWA members
interested in visiting it.
"The artist’s studio is the best place to look
closely at her paintings. At the same time, one has a chance to observe some
unfinished work at different stages. This builds a bridge between the
art-admirer and the artist," explains Kanak.
"My paintings are very bright and show mostly
happiness. In reality, indigenous people’s faces do not express happiness. But I
want to catch the inner happiness of these people and the peace that they have
lost from their past," Kanak says.
Kanak’s studio is Apt 5A, Brookline Apartment, House
36/1, Road 4, Dhanmondi.
Source:
KANAK - An Artist with a
Difference:
Article by Satyawati H. Nurari www.un-bd.org |
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