Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts hosted a twelve-day solo painting exhibition titled, ‘Staring Women’ by artist Nazia Andaleeb Preema with the inaugural ceremony on 15 January 2010, Friday, at 6 pm at Bengal Shilpalaya. H. E. Ms. Ingebjorg Stofring, Ambassador of Norway to Bangladesh, was present as the Chief Guest and inaugurated the exhibition. Prof. Emeritus Dr. Anisuzzaman and eminent artist Murtaja Baseer were present as Special Guests while Mr. Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Deputy Managing Director, BRAC Bank Limited, was present as the Guest of Honour.

Nazia Andaleeb Preema (b. 1974, Dhaka) received the Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Award from the Bangladesh Charushilpi Parishad (2007), Web Art and Design Award from BUET, Dhaka (2006) and Royal Overseas League Scholarship (2003). She has had several solo exhibitions at home and abroad including participations in Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh, the Tashkent and Istanbul Biennales. Preema has an MFA in Painting from the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka (2000). Currently she is the creative adviser of Bangladesh Brand Forum and is working as a freelance artist. For Staring Women Preema put together a collection of oils and drawings done in strong lines, vibrant colours and texture contours, where faces and figures cut into each other. Preema’s canvas is crowded with veiled figures- an idea that symbolizes the cramped psychological space in which a woman has to survive. Her emphasis is both on the social and psychological moments of women and she shows how these are dominated by an overriding male ethos.

Date: 15.01.2010 – 26.01.2010
Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts
Organiser: Bengal Foundation