Artist Rokeya Sultana in recent show, interviewed by New Age paper.
http://www.newagebd.com/2004/jul/22/arts.html

Photo by J.Kirkpatrick, 1982, at her show at Hotel Intercon.

Rokeya Sultana: Stringing relationships

Rokeya Sultana is a graduate from the Institute of Fine Arts in Dhaka.
Rokeya has received significant attention for her work recently, with a
 major award received at the 9th Asian Biennial in 1999, the first ever for
a woman artist from Bangladesh. She participated in the International Print Exhibition held at Portland (Oregon) Art Museum in 1997 and has won the Grand Prize in the Third Bharat Bhavan International Print Triennale, India in 1995. She received her MFA from the Bishwa Bharati University, West Bengal, India. She teaches at the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University. Rokeya Sultana talked about her work with New Age's Marcel Khan and Anisur Rahman.

New Age: Tell us something about your childhood and how you decided to choose fine arts as a career.

Rokeya Sultana: I spent my early childhood in Rawalpindi, where my father was stationed as Assistant Inspector General of Police. The atmosphere in our family was very enlightening. My father was transferred to Dhaka when I was ten. With my cousin's encouragement, I got into the Art College after I completed the matriculation exam.

NA: How do you look back to your early days and then as a student in the Art College?

RS: I have been an introvert since my childhood and wanted to do things
 my way but didn't get much support from others. Unlike many, I had to face obstacles and barriers on account of my strong and independent views. Needless to say, it created ill feelings and pains. I would see invisible flowers in the grass; at times I would visualise the beauty of the endless sky. In the beginning, I would copy other people's works. After graduating from the College of Fine Arts in Dhaka I went to India for a master's from Bishwabharati, Shantiniketan. I came back here in the early eighties and joined the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University as a teacher.

NA: How do you feel about your career in fine arts? Would you like to
comment on your works?

RS  In our country it is very difficult to maintain and fulfil all your
needs and demands by taking fine arts as a full time profession. Just think about the price of art-materials. It is a challenging job. Very few, can overcome the struggle and make it in this field. But I am an optimist and it is encouraging to see so many art-lovers and art connoisseurs patronising the artists these days. I don't believe in any hard and fast rule in art-works. All my feelings, emotions and practices are expressed deeply in my works. I think the most important thing for me is the rapport between human beings, between colours on the canvas, between forms. In my earlier works, you could see the 'landscape series', where forms and lines and textures were used to express my imagination. Then in the 'Madonna Series' -- you see the same with the human figures. Rafique Islam wrote on my 4th solo art exhibition in 1995: 'When she thinks of figuration in painting, the word 'configuration' comes to her mind. The reason is that artist Rokeya Sultana does not paint things, she paints, in fact, relationships." The relationship of things becomes the configuration.

NA: Do you believe you are a social reformer in your world of painting?

RS: I am neither a politician nor a social reformer. I am a very simple
observer. But I have some commitments to the society I live in. I feel for
 the fallen, for the slum-dwellers, for the neglected-- my heart cries out
to them. I try to represent such grievance and observations in my paintings. Basically I am a lover of peace.

NA: Who inspires you?

RS: I'm very much inspired by the mystic songs of Lalon Shah and
Rabindranath Tagore, and poetry of Jibanananda Das, Yeats and Robert Frost. Master painters, Vincent Van Gogh, Chagall, Gauguin, Roseau, Henry Matisse, Zainul Abedin , Aminul Islam, Quamrul Hassan and Professor Mohammad Kibria have also influenced me very much. Their writings, their art works have played a prominent role to enrich my outlook. And above all, my parents, I must give them the credit for showing me the way.

NA: Do you have anything to say about your future?
 

RS: One has to continue working; nothing can be more rewarding than work. You have to constantly think of what you are going to do next. And you have to have confidence in yourself. My work has been developing over the years and I have been changing gradually. Experimenting with new horizons and new techniques is usually the indication of a creative mind.
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