Today is the birthday of Zainul Abedin

Today is the 108th birthday of the famous twentieth century Bengali painter Zainul Abedin. He was born on 29 December 1914 in Kendua, Mymensingh district. Deep interest and perseverance in art from very early age of his life made him a famous painter. Zainul Abedin ran away from home at the age of sixteen to visit Government School of Arts in Kolkata, India with friends.

His father was Tamizuddin Ahmed and his mother was Joynabunnesa. He grew up in the calm, lush and beautiful natural environment of the river basin of Brahmaputra. There was a strong tendency towards drawing since childhood. With paint-brush he used to match various things including flowers, fruits, trees, herbs, fish and birds on the canvas. And for the love of painting he ran away from home in 1933 without taking part in the secondary examination and took shelter in Calcutta. There he was admitted to the Government School of Arts. Shilpacharya's initiation into art education continued here till 1938. He graduated from the Department of Drawing and Painting in 1938 with a bachelor's degree. By that time, he has also gained recognition as an artist. Took place in the list of a handful of modern Indian artists. Then he moved from Calcutta to Dhaka.

Zainul Abedin is a shining star in laying the foundation of the art industry of this country. The fine arts of this country were developed by his hands. He established Dhaka Art College (now Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University) in 1948. Through this institution, the journey of modern art started in the country. He was the chairman of this organization till 1967. And not only the development of modern art, he wanted the development of folk art in this country and the connection of modern art with it. With that aspiration, he established the Folk and Crafts Foundation at Sonargaon in Narayanganj in 1975 inspired by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was elected President of the Bangla Academy in 1972 and held the post till 1974. In 1974, he was nominated as one of the advisors of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Elected a member of the Congress for World Unity in Philadelphia, USA. He became the first national professor of Bangladesh in 1974 and held the post till his death.

In his artistic life, Zainul Abedin drew sketches of the famine of 1943 with the touch of a paintbrush. The background of the mass uprising came up on his canvas in 1969. In 1970, he painted the famous 65-foot-long painting Nabanna. In the same year, he painted a touching picture of a catastrophic cyclone named Monpura. These timeless works of art of his have received wide acclaim and recognition in the international arena beyond the borders of the country.

Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin embodied the nature, way of life, abundance, poverty and the desire for independence of Bengalis on his brush and canvas. He brought Bengali culture to the world court through his art. At the same time, he immersed himself in the pursuit of awakening the sense of beauty by removing the famine of taste from the dying society.

In 1947, Zainul Abedin married Jahanara Begum, daughter of Tayyab Uddin Ahmed, a resident of Dhaka. Jahanara Begum later introduced herself as Jahanara Abedin. The fruit of their conjugal life is three sons. They are Saiful Abedin, Khairul Abedin and Moinul Abedin. Zainul Abedin died of cancer on May 28, 1976 at the age of 61.

On the occasion of the day, the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University has organized a three-day Zainul Festival from today. Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman will lay a wreath at the tomb of Shilpacharya at 9.45 am. The opening ceremony of the festival will start at 10 am. Secretary of the Ministry of Culture Abul Mansur will be the chief guest at the function presided over by Professor Nisar Hossain, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts. Apart from this, various socio-cultural organizations will carry out various programs.