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Sanji: From Japan With Love
Cover Story

Preema's tribute to “July One”

Published : Thursday, 27 October, 2016 at 12:00 AM  Count : 502
Ahmed Tahsin Shams
When art drips from brushes to gestures, thereby takes birth an art-performer, a visual-artist. The name that rings a bell is --- ace in the world of art --- Nazia Andaleeb Preema, a visual artist from
Bangladesh, who has an Icarus-flight in international art-residence programmes, but always being rooted she colours the contemporary issues either on canvas or in her performances. This experimental art-whiz recently returned from a month-long residency programme at Studio Kura in Japan (Fukuoka, Itoshima village) where along with her exhibitions, she demonstrated an art titled 'Intimacy Conflict' as a tribute to the nightmare occurred on July 1, 2016 at Holy Artisan Bakery in Gulshan area, Bangladesh.
The recent dreadful-terror-attack at Holy Artisan Bakery was a shock to the nation which made Preema decide to go for break from all chaos. She believes, "We lack connection among us, with nature as well. We are all separate individuals and we apprehend to be intimated. This is the conflict I wanted to explore and portray in my recent performance in Japan with Ayami who is a Japanese model and student as well."       
Two Japanese words, Preema prefers, to describe her performance, 'Wabisabi' and 'Kintsukuroi'. The former one refers to a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and peacefully accepting the natural cycle of growth and decay. And the latter one is the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver joining the pieces and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. Getting indulged for a month into Japanese culture, tradition and their immense natural humbleness towards life and art, somehow, helped Preema to recover from that nightmarish evening of July 1, 2016.
"Art makes me feel alive. So I need to find for myself a place to free my inner inhibition, an environment that would allow me to break any rule at any point. I like conflict, In Fukuoka, I was a learner as well: observing details that happening around, appreciating nature," Preema shares.  
About the moments she passed there, it was in one word --- 'Sugoi' (means Awesome). Ikisan is one of the places in Itoshima, far away from the cities; it's after 25 stations from the Fukuoka city, under Kyushu Prefecture. Studio Kura was in a rural area close to rice fields and the sea which "I felt were exactly the elements I needed to reconnect with," adds Preema.  
The nearby sound of heavy waterfall, the cloudy sky, far and distant mountains, holy shrines, abandoned houses, spider nets, passing by crabs on the road, mysterious oceans, mountains, unknown funeral flowers, festivals and many more certainly will craft an artist's mind, as it did to Preema.  
At the end of the residency, there was an exhibition of mixed media titled 'Sanji: From Japan with Love' (Sanji, in Japanese, means tribute) where Preema has put up the exotic-aesthetic expressions of Ayami's sensual body, imaginary Kimono with artificial pink cherries, black roses made out of fabric were installed with tampons soaked in puberty red hue, a real unknown fish, the 'Hotaru' series of photographs, and photo manipulation on watercolor.
"On July 1, 2016 seven Japanese along with three Bangladeshi, one Indian and nine Italians were brutally killed in my own land, I felt terribly guilty as an artist, as a Bangladeshi. It was a performance for me to understand and realize the freedom of spirit --- to touch our souls," unveils Preema.  
Furthermore, Preema says, "It was an improvisation and self modulation as well. We gradually moved towards the live viewers and started touching them. Gradually the energy suffused among all who were witnessing the 'intimate conflict'. I tried to make people react to my act of love and violence to bring them out from their inner secure self."
"Each step of my performance was digging myself out there and opened me up to touch every individual, to connect and to communicate, searching myself," she states.
As a woman, Preema intends to create an identity from the daily crisis a woman faces in today's world as well as in Bangladesh, and as an artist: "looking for an existence without fear", is what Preema believes.
Other artist's in this art residence programme in Japan were from Canada, Finland, Germany, France, Australia -- Charlott Clermont (video artist), Inkeri Jantti (photographer), Cathy Laudenbach, Thomas Hoeren, and Anne-Sophie Guillet.

Ahmed Tahsin Shams is with The Daily Observer

Brief-Bio
n    President: Women in Leadership (WIL) 2014-till date
n    Director/Creative Editor: Bangladesh Brand Forum (2006-till date)
n    Visiting Faculty, Department of Visual Arts, North South University, (2005-2010)
n    Curator/Director: Preema's Atelier, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2006-till date)
n    Chief Graphic/web Artist, Bangladeshinfo.com Limited (August 2000-February, 2002)
n    Web Designer, Grameen Cyber net Limited (May, �97 � August 2000)
n    Key note paper on Contemporary Women Artist's in Asia at Asian Women Bangladesh in Chittagong (2012)
n    Key note paper presentation on Muslim Bengali Women, State University, Penn State, USA (2010)
n    Key note paper in the 3rd Bangladesh Brand Forum on the topic of 'Connecting soul to touch emotion' at Sheraton, Dhaka (2009)
n    'My Staring Women', series of lectures in the Faculty of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (2009)
n    'Islam and Sculpture', paper presented at the Arts Faculty, University of Dhaka (2008)
 
Art-curator
n    United Kingdom (Asia House 2010)
n    USA (Saffron Arts 2012)
n    France (Cite Des Arts, Foundation of Alliance Francaise, Paris, 2012)
n    Her painting has been auctioned at the 'Grosvenor House', London

Awards
n    Anannya Award as recognition of being the outstanding visual artist of Bangladesh 2014
n    Honourable Mention Award in Chitrakala Category by Jatiyo Mahila Parishod (2009)
n    Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Award in Painting by Bangladesh Charushilpa Parishad (2007/2008)
n    Web Art and Design Award by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET 2006)
n    Royal Overseas League Scholarship UK (2003); Honorable Mention Award
n    The Group Modern Painting Exhibition; Organized by Alliance Francaise de Dhaka (2003)
n    Media Best Award in oil painting, Fine Art Department, Dhaka University (2000);
n    2nd Prize of Miniature Painters, Sculptures and Grover's Society of Washington DC, USA (1999)

 Exhibitions
n    16 solo (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Japan, USA, UK, Turkey, Morocco, Uzbekistan) exhibitions 
n    5 Asian Art Biennale
n    2 Tashkent Biennale
n    Istanbul Biennale
n    Venice International Art Expo (2010, 2012, 2014)
n    Art Basel Miami
n    Tuyup Art Fair
n    Istanbul, Dubai Art Festival
n    Dhaka Art Summit
n    Delhi International Art Festival

 Video Performances
n    'Monajat' 2008
n    'And Stare Continues' 2009
n    'Marry my Egg' 2011
n    'Monologue' 2012
n    'Aged with cellphones' 2014
n    'Icolation' 2015






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