A thirteen-day group painting exhibition, titled ‘Aquatic 2’ by five artists, is now underway at the La Galerie of Alliance Française de Dhaka, in the capital’s Dhanmondi area. Eminent sculptor Professor Hamiduzzaman Khan inaugurated the exhibition as chief guest on the gallery premises on Saturday.
 Water is ubiquitous in Bangladesh. To the untrained eye, layers and layers of bricks and concrete, man-made mundane monuments of melancholy may seem arid or ‘waterless’, but beneath it all, water flows, cascades, swirls and streams and calls out to every person — to wet their feet in it. Even the indolent ones cannot help but respond to that call when rainy season happens, when a limpid pond as if by magic emerges amid greenery, or when thousands and thousands of rivers of Bangladesh make it almost impossible to not embrace water and its lustral beauty.
‘ Joloj 2’ (Aquatic 2), the second edition of the 2015 exhibition ‘Joloj’, embraces this essence of water in Bangladesh and featuring the artworks by artists Al-Akhir Sarker, Bishan Bhakta, Golam Moshiur Rahman Choudhury, Md Azmal Uddin and Sadek Ahmed.
 Golam Moshiur’s paintings show the struggle of life. The agony of human being which he portrays in his artworks may make a long impact to the visitor’s mind. Bishan’s artworks are deeply attached with the nature. He usually paints his thought and likes to expose what he loves. Al- Akhir Sarker wanted to dig out his inner feelings, very personal and free feelings, at the same time the very traditional feelings of Bengali people in his paintings. Sadek always wants to express his emotion with light and shade and lost city is the subject of his painting. Md Azmal Uddin enjoys exploring duality (the internal and external feeling of human being) in his painting.
 The exhibition will remain open to all, until December 29 and can be visited according to the following schedule— Monday to Thursday from 3 pm to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday (9 am to 12 noon and 5 pm to 8 pm; closed on Sunday.

AFD: 26 Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi.