It’s not a matter of a cup of tea for everyone to depict a particular message in his art works where the audience can easily be attracted and can communicate enough with the artistry. If it’s the matter of painting, then rarely there’s anyone who can portray the messages with the art and for the indigenous society, it’s more infrequent. But there’s a person we know as a very talented individual who has taken her purpose ofpaintings to a new level by focusing on the lives of indigenous people. She’s none other than Kanak Chapa Chakma.
She was born in a beautiful small town of Rangamati named Tabal Chari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. She is the daughter of a businessman and her mother too was a weaver who had won awards for her noticeable works.
Kanak Chapa Chakma completed her Honors and Masters of Fine Arts from University of Dhaka in 1986. Then she continued her study in Pennsylvania State University in USA too from the year 1993 to 1994 where she eventually got her Mid-American Arts Allowance Fellowship and through this she got the opportunity to research about the other indigenous people living in other countries also.
She is a lady grown up in the midst of green hills so her art works are surely mainly based on the connection with the hill people. She has also worked about the other ethnic groups living in Bangladesh like: The Santals, the Garos, the Marmas, the Tanchangyas as well as the Chakma community. Her vibrant portraits show the beautiful lifestyle of indigenous poplemanifesting their day to day life struggles as well. Her paintings consist the delightful indigenous traditional occasions like ‘Fulbhasani' or the systematical dancing footsteps of the Santalswearing ‘Lal pere shada sharee'. Depicting the everyday lives specially of the indigenous women- sometimes the women are seen gossiping with each other, sometimes they are visibleadorned with their traditional attire. The use of different bright colors in her portraits convey a delicious delicacy and elegance.
At times, the indigenousness of the Buddhist monks holding their hods are noticed in their saffron-colored costume. The jhum cultivation in hill areas, the music, the traditional attire, the simpled religious feelings become full of enthusiasm in front of the beholder. The use of colors to express and convey the sentiment of the image seems so much perfect!
She has depicted more than 70 paintings till now and many of them have been exhibited from time to time. In 2012, the exhibition of the lifestyle of Murong community was held and exhibition about Chakma community was held later in 2014. Her art works consist of much research with explorations of different concepts in indigenous societies. The simplified portraying gives more visibility to the spectators about the lives of people and they get a sight of awesomeness hidden in those arts.
Kanak Chapa Chakma has earned both the attraction and praise of the critics too and won many awards like: holding the “TOPTEN” best women personalities in Bangladesh (1994), BestPersonalities in Arts by Arabian Fashions beyond imagination(2003), Master Zeinul Abedin Memorial Award and many more. She also recieved the second award on Modern Painting, International Miniature Art Contest held in Florida. The most mentionable award accomplished by her is the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Costume Design in 2014.
What she has been performing by mainly focusing on indigenous communities is now an encouragement for the emerging indigenous artists from Chittagong Hill Tracts. The recognition that the hill people and the indigenous people living all over Bangladesh deserve is possible by the art works as they portray the concepts more effectively to the nation and to the world. Kanak Chapa Chakma has been an icon for she has helped to bloom the flower of artistic journey by paintingswhich is praiseworthy enough.
Written by Priase Chakma
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