‘Aesthete’ invites viewers into a vivid dialogue of art and identity

The Alliance Française de Dhaka launched "Aesthete", a bold new group exhibition at La Galerie on Monday, featuring works by 28 independent Bangladeshi artists. Open to the public until July 15, the exhibition invites viewers to explore a striking range of paintings and sculptures, on display every Monday through Saturday, from 3 pm to 9 pm.

The inaugural ceremony was graced by eminent artist Professor Emeritus Rafiqun Nabi of the University of Dhaka as the chief guest. Also in attendance were art connoisseur Raquib Mohammad Fakhrul and acclaimed painter Ranjit Das, whose presence added weight to the event's significance within Dhaka's cultural calendar.

Curated as a layered expression of Bangladesh's diverse creative voices, "Aesthete" showcases 33 works that span various media, techniques, and aesthetic traditions. The exhibition draws its strength from both the individuality of its contributors and their collective engagement with urgent themes—natural beauty, political unrest, and everyday resilience.

Participating artists include Abdullah Al Bashir, Abdus Sattar Toufiq, Al-Akhir Sarker, Anjum Sulaiman, Anukul Chandra Mojumder, Ashfaque Bappy, Biplob Chakroborti, Bishwajit Goswami, K Zaman Shimul, Kamal Uddin, Kamruzzoha, Kazi Sahid, Lutfa Mahmuda, among others.

What sets "Aesthete" apart is not merely its scale, but the range of visual languages it presents. The exhibition flows from abstraction to figuration, from lyrical introspection to social critique. Visitors encounter personal mythologies, reinterpretations of folk traditions, and unflinching meditations on contemporary life, underscored by an Alliance Française de Dhaka press release.

Rather than curating around a single concept, the show embraces multiplicity, giving space to artists to voice their own interpretations of identity, heritage, and struggle. The result is a rich, sometimes dissonant, always thought-provoking body of work, it stressed.

More than a visual showcase, "Aesthete" positions itself as a site of engagement. Viewers are encouraged not only to observe but to reflect, question, and converse. It's an invitation to read between lines, brushstrokes, and textures—to enter into the deeper conversations these works propose.

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Alliance Française to host group art exhibition ‘Aesthete’