The inauguration of ‘Dust to Dust (2010-2015)’, a solo exhibition of installations, objects and drawings by Mahbubur Rahman was held on 11 April at Bengal Art Lounge. Eminent writer Syed Shamsul Haq and noted painter Shahid Kabir jointly inaugurated the exhibition.

Mahbubur Rahman's 25 years of creative practice have established him as one of Bangladesh's most radical and challenging artists. Ever since he graduated as a painter at the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka in 1993, he has been redefining the limits of artistic expression in Bangladesh. Breaking with the traditional specialisation established by the curriculum, Rahman has been a pioneer of the cross-media approach in visual arts.

Dust to Dust (2010-2015) is conceived as an illustration of the artist's polymorphous endeavours: from charcoal drawings to complex installations with fabricated objects mixing sound and light, the exhibition opens a window on Rahman's ambitious experimentation. 

‘Using techniques of drawings, installation and performance, Mahbubur Rahman engages with various senses of the tragic to integrate a history of human suffering that is foundational to Bangladesh's story of nation-formation’, said Haema Sivanesan, Curator (based in Canada).

‘Unlike previous generations of Bangladeshi artists, who responded pictorially and expressionistically to first hand experiences of famine and war, Rahman reflects on the shadows of history, it's resonances and residues which weigh on society to shape a collective consciousness’ Sivanesan added.

Part new exhibition, part retrospective, the show blends previously unseen artworks with selected pieces that have been exhibited on rare occasions.

It is the first time, for instance, that ‘I was told to say these words’, a major installation created for the Venice Biennale in 2011, will be on display in Bangladesh.

Rahman's formal research is entirely put at the service of a larger, more essential inquiry. The complicated relationship between the aspirations of the self and the norms enforced by religion and society, or the duality of power and oppression in the post-colonial context of South Asia, are among the questions hinted at in this exhibition.

Dust to Dust (2010-2015) is an important milestone in the journey of Bengal Art Lounge, a space dedicated to the newest forms of artistic expressions. It is our hope that this exhibition will help to further the appreciation of conceptual art by the greater public in Bangladesh.

The exhibition will run till 2 May from 12:00 noon to 8:00pm.