Prolific painter Kanak Chanpa Chakma looks back at her storied career and delves into the finer aspects of her works with
Ahmed Sadek Yousuf

She wears her heart and passion on her sleeve and her verdant enthusiasm for the fine arts remains undimmed while her craft remains perched on its virtually unrivalled apogee.

   Arguably the most pronounced and acclaimed exponent of ethnic culture and life, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, a prolific painter cast in a distinct mould, in comparison with other artists, has done much to educate people in Bangladesh as well as the rest of the world, about the aspects of ethnic life and culture through the medium of her works.

   To this day, she has held her own in a field, which she has virtually expanded as a distinctive niche and in the process, enthralling people with appreciation for art with the kaleidoscopic variety and verdure of her works.

   To this day, she has held her own in a field, which she has virtually expanded as a distinctive niche and in the process, enthralling people with appreciation for art with the kaleidoscopic variety and The primary focus of her works has always been geared towards the depiction of the culture and lifestyles, as well as other finer aspects, of the ethnic people in general in Bangladesh. In fact this has come to be recognised as her signature and differentiating stance with regards to her works.

   What spurred Kanak to take on this particular field was the experience gained during her early childhood and formative years that were spent in Rangamati Hill Tracts. Her experiences back then, accordingly, had helped to mould her mindset. ‘From an early age, I have always harboured a deep fascination for the fine arts. What ideally complemented this was my innate knack for drawing and painting,’ she says.

   ‘What has further helped me to realise my goal is that my parents have always encouraged me and thus created an atmosphere to nurture my latent talents.’

   However, she also makes it a point to mention, that back in those days, given the relative impoverishment and the backwater nature of Rangamati, her drawing talents, although precocious, were, to a degree, raw.

   ‘Back in those days, the required drawing materials as well as the proper nurturing facilities were rudimentary or scarce there, hence you may say that back then, there was always an element of my talent which was unrefined,’ she mentions.

   According to her, what convinced her to go and take up the fine arts was the firm go-ahead and backing she recieved from her school headmistress, Nilima Chowdhury, who was sufficiently impressed with Kanak’s talents. ‘Nilima Chowdhury proved to be a pivotal influence early on,’ she says. ‘She was really supportive of me and inspired me to take up painting as a career.’

   After passing her Matriculation exams from the Rangamati Government Girls School, she subsequently enrolled into Art College in Dhaka in 1978, which is currently known as the Institute of Fine Arts. Here, she embarked upon a seven-year odyssey that saw her overcome the hurdles of numerous exams and ultimately culminated in her obtaining the MFA (Masters in Fine Arts) degree in drawing and painting.

   ‘My stint there greatly aided me in further honing and refining my talents and also helped to inculcate in me, the fine sense of aesthetics that is so much of an essential prerequisite for an artist,’ she adds.

   According to her, it was during the twilight stages of her stint in the Institute of Fine Arts, especially between 1985 and 1986, that she took the time to indulge in experimentation with regards to exploring various drawing genres. ‘Up until then, it was all about basically honing our drawing skills – which I might add was a one-dimensional routine. However, it was in the last two years that I was given the leeway to experiment in various painting genres and try to come up with a distinctive new genre,’ she says.

   Thus in the subsequent intervening years, she took her time to develop and mould her own style and genre. Eventually, she had come to differentiate her brand of works with her own distinctive style, as well as specialising strictly in the depiction of ethnic lifestyle and culture.

    ‘I feel it is my duty to educate others about the richness and diversity of the ethnic culture in our nation, which I attempt to convey using my art-works,’ she says.

   Furthermore, what aided the development of her craft was the frequent and invaluable exchange of ideas with other artistes, especially on foreign trips. ‘In 1994, I was awarded an American Fellowship, which provided me with an opportunity to visit 10 states in America. I savoured those occasions as those visits helped me meet artistes of various hues and I got to exchange a lot of ideas with them,’ she adds.

   Subsequently, the Penn State University in the US granted her residency and she used the opportunity to visit Al Bwalbukuky and Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she met Native Americans for the first time. ‘During my visits there, I managed to get an insight into the lives of Native Americans and importantly, I got to extract new ideas from them as well,’ she states.

   Her experiences with the Native Americans provided the impetus for her first art exhibition, which was held in the US. Her debut exhibition provided a glimpse into the various facets of their daily lives and culture. Her debut exhibition, which drew positive acclaim, was an instrumental turning point in her career and fundamentally changed the course of it.

   However, arguably, her grandest achievement to date was when she was awarded a gold medal on the occasion of the Olympic Fine Arts in Beijing in 2008. ‘Both my husband (who is also a painter) and I got the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Fine Arts and the theme which we were to work upon was ‘Speed, Spirit and Colour’. There were about 300 artists from all over the world, but after 10 days of trial, a hundred contestants were awarded the gold medals,’ she says. ‘To be counted among those awardees is truly a significant achievement and it is something that I will definitely cherish all my life.’

source:new age xtra