Jamini's Take on the Art of Installation

He does offset this shortfall by bringing to the fore works of Ashok Karmakar, who, by way of tapping into our nationalistic passion, has made a mark in the art scene in Dhaka. Haq also counters the argument, put forward by Nisar Husain, dear to the hearts of installation artists of the country: That their art works, by not being museum pieces, become part of life. He rightly points out that no matter where it is installed, every installation is "perceived as an aesthetic phenomenon and as such is distinct from functional reality."

While Haq's article is a qualified celebration of the new mode of art, Ziaul Karim's journey through the Venice Bienniale throws a harshly critical light on a similar stock of assemblages or installations by leading artists of the world. Karim's skepticism is boldly expressed in his title: 'What is so great about the Venice Bienniale?' In it he makes several attempts to demonstrate what art today has been reduced to. He laments the fact that most artists have abandoned the traditional mode of art and have instead opted for postmodernist idioms that consist mainly of bringing found object to the exhibition space. Art, Karim writes, must be dependent on new and inexhaustible layers of emotional and visual resonance. "In conceptual art there is no place for aesthetic pleasure or contemplation of internal relation," he observes. He looks without empathy at the plastic bags or builder's plumb put forward as artistic statements at the Bienniale, a most high-profile event of the art world.

As usual, there are a number of contributions by foreign writers in the journal. Since installation is the theme of this issue, some of these writers, too, touch on the subject. An article by Ken Bolton that examines the installation scene of Adelaide provides a chance for a look at the Australian scene. It provides an opportunity for a comparison of the Adelaide scene with that of Bangladesh. The influx of popular culture in the art world of Adelaide may throw the art buffs of Bangladesh off their feet. The zeal displayed by those artists in appropriating popular culture, in the twist they put on their chosen subjects, makes one realize that perhaps excessive somberness governs the Bangladesh scene. Installation art in Bangladesh in comparison seems completely devoid of sardonic statements and humour.

The most riveting read is the piece on Joseph Beuys by Shamsad Mortuza. It takes readers on a tour of a survey exhibition of the avant-garde master at London's Tate Modern.

As is the norm, the issue provides short reviews of several local art exhibitions. Syed Manzoorul Islam, abundantly attendant on Kalidas Karmakar's last solo, expresses his discontentment over the artist's tendency to repeat his imagery, by stating that in the exhibition, titled 'Alluvial Plain and Salvation,' the artist got "carried away by the symbolic and emotive associations of the term 'alluvial'."

All in all, this particular issue of Jamini has a lot to offer to its readers by cutting through the present art scene of the country. Apart from perhaps the piece on installation art in Bangladesh, the rest do justice to the subjects that they tackle.

Mustafa Zaman is senior staff writer, Daily Star weekend magazine.