|
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. |
