‘Guru-Disciple: Disciple-Guru’ returns for its third edition at Zainul Gallery

The Oriental Painting Studio will inaugurate the third edition of its signature exhibition, "Guru-Disciple: Disciple-Guru", today at 5pm at Zainul Gallery, commemorating the timeless bond between guru and disciple in Oriental painting.

The inauguration ceremony will be attended by Professor Dr Md Abdus Sattar of the Department of Oriental Art, DU; photographer and author Nasir Ali Mamun; Nakshi Kantha artist Hosne Ara; Zareen Mahmud Hosein, founder of HerStory Foundation and CholPori; and Nakshi Kantha artist Asma.

The exhibition, curated by Mikhail Idris, features portraits of luminaries such as Buddha, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Lalon Shah, Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hassan, SM Sultan, Safiuddin Ahmed, and Ferdousi Priyabhashini, created by participating artists Pragati Chakma, Amit Nandi, Zahangir Alom, and Malay Bala. Alongside these, the dedicated practices of folk artists are also highlighted.

Organisers said the central theme of the exhibition is the eternal beauty of Bengal's art, literature, culture, women, and nature—an attempt to echo the timeless rhythm of spiritual and human unity.

Founded in 2009, the Oriental Painting Study Group (OPSG) of Dhaka University has held exhibitions, workshops, and seminars to promote Oriental art. In 2015, they established themselves as Oriental Painting Studio to continue the guru–disciple tradition, serving as a hub for artists. Beyond painting, it fosters music, reading circles, critiques, festivals, and excursions. During the pandemic, it launched "Art for Humanity" to support students and folk artists nationwide.

Now in its 10th year, the studio's activities mark both a source of joy and pride for those involved. The exhibition "Guru-Disciple: Disciple-Guru" is not merely an art showcase—it is an artistic journey infused with literature, where the ancient and the contemporary, the spiritual and the worldly, the individual and the collective converge into a single, infinite stream of creativity.

The exhibition will remain open to visitors every day from 11am to 8:30pm until September 14 at Zainul Gallery-1, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka. 

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