The early forties of the last century witnessed a sea change in the practice of fine art. After the establishment of the government college of fine arts in Dhaka in 1948 the art movement gained momentum and embraced many new ideas and trends.
The first major group show organised by the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Srijan Samahar featured the work of 14 artists who paved the way for the development of modern painting in Bangladesh. The artists were Safiuddin Ahmed, Mohammad Kibria, Aminul Islam, Qayyum Chowdhury, Murtaja Baseer, Syed Jahangir, Debdas Chakraborty , Nitun Kundu, Samorjit Roy Chowdhury, Abdul Muqtadir, Shamsul Islam Nizami, Hashem Khan, Abu Taher and Rafiqun Nabi. A number of earlier and more recent works were placed side by side to illustrate the evolution of individual trends.

Date: 03.08.2000 – 24.08.2000
Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts