The Society of Artists has organised a nine-day terracotta sculpture workshop at the artist Tayabuzzaman Topu's atelier, Mirpur in the city. The workshop is first of its kind in Bangladesh. The workshop was inaugurated on December 5.
Noted sculptor Mojibor Rahman Mujib and ceramic artist Tayabuzzaman Topu have been conducted the workshop. The inauguration of the workshop featured lecture and analytical description on terracotta.
From the outputs of the workshop, Gallery 21 and Society of Artists will jointly organise a group terracotta exhibition in February next year. About twenty artists have taken part at the workshop. About ten artists took part on the first day of the workshop.
Talking on the workshop, Mojibor Rahman Mujib said, "Terracotta is an ancient medium of sculpture in our country. We have also used this primitive medium but we are trying to add a contemporary and modern touch at the workshop. Terracotta, a type of earthenware, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic, where the fired body is porous."
Artist Tayabuzzaman Topu said, "We feel very happy that this is the first time we have managed to organise a terracotta-sculpture workshop in the city. Through the workshop, we want to uphold and generate this ancient medium and technique among the participating artists."
The workshop produces about 60 terracotta artworks. Human figures in varied moods, human visages, dolls, various animal forms, birds, fish, cats, tigers, horse, deer and varied animated and inanimate objects have appeared with all their beauty in the terracotta artworks at the workshop. Some artists focus on pure forms and compositions. The daily lives of commoners of different occupations, rural women and their varied moods and peoples' daily chores have also been highlighted at the workshop.
The workshop produces a unique collection of terracotta art that carries our culture and tradition. This genre of art is the earliest form of art in which the Bengal artists excelled. The art products in terracotta or burnt clay satisfied the creative impulse of the artists and also met the domestic and ritual needs of ordinary people. The art was practised in Bengal from the earliest through early medieval to medieval times and even continued to Hindu monuments till the mid-19th century.
The workshop will continue till December 13.