The world of Hamiduzzaman Khan
A master sculptor speaks on his subject
Fayza Haq
http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/09/12/d40912140190.htm

Hamiduzzaman Khan, head of the Sculpture Department, Fine Arts, DU, chatting in his salon, spoke about the state of sculpture in Bangladesh, himself and his work. He was outspoken, forthright and to the point, as senior fine arts teachers tend to be. If one is disenchanted with the humdrum everyday existence, and has a penchant for fine arts, one has only to parley with him.

Asked to give the reason for the present lack of adequate appreciation of sculpture in Bangladesh Hamiduzzaman said, 'Neighbouring India has a very rich tradition of sculpture. At present there are numerous sculptors working there. There is the traditional stone carving school in various places in India even 200 years back. Even though, we have a tradition of sculpting ourselves and those who take pride in our Moghul heritage have sculpture in our minds and thoughts, nevertheless we, in Dhaka, are not so well exposed to sculpting, unless this is presented most often in some simplistic geometrical manner that does not violate the sentiments of our Muslim past. After all, everybody is not exposed or aware of the terracotta temples that surrounds the metropolis,' Hamiduzzaman pointed out.


He added that the outlook is gradually changing due to the fact that owners of the multistoried houses have been able to amalgamate terracotta sculpture either on the facades or within the buildings of commercial houses. 'Today, the works of my students are undoubtedly popular and making a living for a sculpture is not that difficult, as it was, say, when I was a student or even a decade back,' he said.


'Sculpture,' he said, 'is coming up with the interior decor or public
placing of sculpture pieces. I believe that there are some very fine world-class architects in Bangladesh as we can judge by the Bashundhara City Complex. He added that the skyline is changing and the materials that they are using are found in developing countries (sculptor and architecture are co-related) such as glass and various other materials. I just hope that
there will be more comprehension of the necessity to include sculpture as an integral part of town planning and individual architectural work.'

About the architectural scene, Hamiduzzaman continued that there are not a lot of stones available here, as say in India, and this has been the basic ingredient of sculpture until fairly recently. Hypothetically speaking, he said, should there be an international competition of sculpture in the developing countries, Bangladeshi sculptures will not be lagging far behind. In Dhaka, there are stone and metal sculpture pieces. He added that materials have been used even from scrap metal in the shipyard; terracotta
is there aplenty and fiberglass maybe used too. There is glass sculpture too, he pointed out.


Touching on the subject of why he chose to work in metal rather than any other medium, Hamiduzzaman explained that steel will combat our tropical climate and at the same time will present a modern approach. Explaining the manner in which he works in his studio cum kiln set up at Badda, Hamiduzzaman said that he made a drawing, next a model and finally the eventual piece. This is not done in the manner in which it is done overseas, that is with the help of other co-workers.

He is also a renowned water-colour artist, as has been proved in the exhibits at Gallery Shilpangon and Gallery 21. His oil paintings are also thought-provoking and reflect a mature mind.


His sojourn in England, which led to his choice of sculpture, has been read about earlier in The Daily Star. He was overseas for medical treatment in his youth. He is trained in USA and is the jewel in the crown of Bangladeshi sculpting. Incidentally, his wife Ivy Zaman is also a renowned sculptor.

He has held 15 international exhibitions and 16 solo sculpture exhibitions in Bangladesh. His last solo sculpture exhibition has been seen at the Bengal Gallery in 2002.