Amplifying on her passion for art, Nabila said, 'Painting is my hobby while economics is my Major; Scholastica's teacher Fareha Zeba instilled in me the penchant for fine arts as a young student at Dhaka. Forty-four artists have contributed to my first venture. The paintings here range from those of Safiuddin Ahmed, Mohammed Kibria, Hashim Khan, Rafiqun Nabi, to the up-and-coming artists like Neville, Hussain Farouq and Mahbubul Islam Babu. There are 43 paintings and one sculpture piece by Saidul Haque Juisse.'

The exhibit included works in etching, watercolour, acrylic, mixed-media and oil. Nabila hopes to promote new talents in a big way in the future, as she herself is young and she feels that the newcomers in the arena of fine arts deserve a special platform. Her next exhibit, scheduled on October 29 will contain Islamic calligraphy as it will be Ramadan around that time. The exhibit will also include some Italian reproductions.

Rafiqun Nabi, reputed artist, who inaugurated the opening, speaking to The Daily Star said, 'Undoubtedly The Daily Star reporters have seen these paintings before but the viewers aimed at are the expatriates. It doesn't really matter as the paintings represent the artists. Artists give away both new and old works when gallery owners approach them. This is just the opening and the paintings were collected over a period of a month. Setting up a gallery business took up the rest of Nabila's time here in Dhaka.' 'I think,' Rafiqun Nabi added, 'that the gallery is a promising one and Nabila has done a good job.'

However, Rafiqun Nabi pointed out, this is not a representative art exhibition: this is just a gallery opening ceremony attempt. When new art gallery owners come up, artists and art lovers are naturally elated, he added . To quote him, 'Nabila is very young: give her time and she'll prove her sincerity. Hopefully she'll get dedicated artists to help her carry on with the project in future. The present socio-political and economic situations are grave in Dhaka, as is well-known by all. For Nabila to establish this gallery under the present conditions was not an easy task,' he concluded.

At the opening ceremony, which was dot on time, Aly Zaker, the well-known theatre personality and writer said, 'Nabila will surely go places as she has managed to bring top-notch artists to the forefront in her first venture to attract foreign buyers in Gulshan and its vicinity.'

Jurg Casserini, Head of Mission, Charge d'Affairs of Switzerland, also speaking at the function, said, 'I'm surprised to see the vast array of art pieces in Dhaka, despite the fact that Bangladesh is labeled a developing country.' Casserini said that the gallery venture was a positive one. Dhaka is undoubtedly a cosmopolitan city and hopefully there will be enough art pieces to fill the galleries. He added that his childhood had been rich in fine arts, and that he was specially interested in lithography. Later, he said, that he hoped to arrange a local workshop, conducted by a Swiss artist.