Mask exhibition - Art Club in Bangladesh

Mask exhibition at Art Club Bangladesh

Mask – the word has a tremendous sense of anonymity in its very essence. Although used to disguise ones human identity, it also brings out the reflective imaginations dwelling inside the bearer, consciously or unconsciously. For example, comic legends Batman or Spiderman sport a mask that inspires heroic deeds while there are chainsaw wielding masked men in movies who commit massacres and run a chill up your spine. For avid masquerade enthusiasts to find their own prototype- whether a superhero or a serial killer, a mask exhibition is being held at the Art Club Bangladesh at Gulshan-2. The event will end on June 29. At the exhibition, there are many delights for connoisseurs as well as curious guests. Mask number 55 by Prakritajan Prajanma – an angry Frankenstein trying to unleash the mechanical beast from within, is a show-stealer. The very imaginative composition is composed of vivid colours on structure made of paper mesh, hairs made of electric cables, eyes of steel screws and bolts, eye lashes made of pins and goatee beard of nails. The mouth remains sewn with wires to prevent his ‘freedom of speech’. Seems disturbing? But honestly its very provocative while staring at it for more than thirty seconds. Another one was adorned by rickshaw plastic hangings giving the mask a very urban and colourful texture while others simply gave nearly all the popular expressions a man gives in his life time – anger, frustration, love, deceit, romance and even sexual. This exhibition is the product of a 10-day workshop for mask making by Prakritajan Prajanma and the students of Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts. The Art Club Bangladesh has undertaken the task of exhibiting these works of art to promote local artists and students, who struggle to get any publicity. Almost all the masks are colourful, characterised from imagination and our folklore and made of paper mesh – the output could have been much better if the media was different but nonetheless, over a white background wall and spot lights, all of them were gleaming with majestic pride. Kudos to the event. The exhibition will remain open from 11:00am to 7:00pm till June 29.