An eco-critical look at Sultan: Reading the manuscript of ‘Sultan Er Krishi Jiggasha’

SM Sultan has attracted a lot of attention in academia in recent years. With the aid of Duniyadari Archive, Pavel Partha's soon-to-be-published book Sultan Er Krishi Jiggasha is a new addition, which looks at Sultan's work from an eco-critical perspective. A panel discussion on the manuscript of the book was held on November 7 at the University Press Limited (UPL) headquarters. The discussion was anchored by art historian Amirul Rajiv, and the panel consisted of artist Mustafa Zaman, artist Dhali Al Mamoon, Professor Syed Nizar, and Professor Firdous Azim.
Amirul Rajiv commenced the event with his welcome speech and greeted the audience. He invited Mahrukh Mohiuddin, Director of UPL, to say a few words. Mohiuddin thanked everyone for joining while pointing out that there is very little academic analysis of artworks by classical artists. She stated that most of the discussions held around such artists are praises or condemnations, with little to no critical substance. She also hoped that works like Partha's would be essential in that regard, and emphasised the need for more archiving and collecting the works of Bangladeshi artists.
The discussion began with a presentation from Pavel Partha. He began working on the manuscript in 2023, on the centenary of SM Sultan. The writer identified five problems with the discourse on SM Sultan so far: a lack of a full collection of works, the mythification and glorification of his life rather than his art, the emphasis on his bohemian lifestyle, too much ink spilling over the muscles of his farmers, and a lack of discourse on his agricultural thoughts. 
To fill these gaps, Partha had to visit Narail and its surrounding areas to learn more about Sultan's subjects. According to Partha, these subjects not only include the farmers he depicted in his paintings, but also the soil they harvested, the livestock they owned, the crops they bred, and the food they ate. He has taken interviews of farmers who work there now and explored the history of agriculture as well as the peasant uprisings in those areas to get an idea of Sultan's psyche. 
In his opinion, every element of Sultan's artwork is muscular, not only the farmers. In most of his artworks, his soil is fertile and booming. Sultan wanted to drive the point home that these farmers, the soil, the agriculture—all these elements carry the weight of the world. Partha's research shows that Sultan was also aware of how rivers were important to this land and its farmers. He theorises that Sultan implicitly protested the river-destroying projects such as the Farakka Barrage. 
Professor Syed Nizar then initiated the discussion session. He expressed great satisfaction at the fact that Sultan, who was mostly an outcast in the art discourse, is now being celebrated more and more in multidimensional ways. He himself has written about decolonial elements in Sultan, and believes that books such as Partha's would be a brilliant addition to Cultural Studies in Bangladesh.
Next, artist Dhali Al-Mamoon took the stage to discuss the value of subjectivity in art. He emphasised how subjectivity is at the heart of any art criticism, and suggested that Partha include these subjectivities in his future manuscript, too, alongside his quest to materially ground the works of Sultan.
Artist Mustafa Zaman placed it under the category of eco-criticism, citing Partha's previous works, which have been heavily influenced by ecology. He questioned one of the premises of the book, though, saying the writer-researcher placed too much emphasis on Sultan's bohemian lifestyle as a problem. To Zaman, however, Sultan's nomadic behaviour is itself part of the art. This is why he suggests that Sultan's work be seen in its total context.
Following, Professor Firdous Azim discussed the depictions of women in Sultan's work, where the women and their productive labour are depicted as an indispensable part of the process—which is indeed true to the reality of agriculture. 
The discussion was followed by a Q&A session, where audience members shared their own experience regarding research on SM Sultan and his artworks.

Sadman Ahmed Siam, as the name suggests, is indeed a sad man. Send him happy quotes at: [email protected].