Mahbubur Rahman and Tayeba Begum Lipi

Reinvented Parables

Submitted to: Ming TiampoSubmitted by: Vince RozarioStudent Number: 100853129

Date: April 14th, 2012Course Code: ARTH 4507

Summary: This proposal outlines a summative exhibition of selected works from two

contemporary Bangladeshi artists, Mahbubur Rahman and Tayeba Begum Lipi, who are rapidly

gaining international renown, at the Carleton University Art Gallery.

Beside its gargantuan neighbour to the North and West, the small nation of Bangladesh was,

until recently, relatively overlooked in terms of its contemporary art scene. However, beginning

with its first appearance at the Venice Biennial in 2011,1 and its appearance in major

contemporary art exhibitions such as No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast

Asia at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York,2 has garnered attention for this

small community in the international art market. Two artists who have been prominently featured

at both shows are husband-and-wife duo Mahbubur Rahman and Tayeba Begum Lipi, who also

head the Britto Arts Trust, a collective established in 2002 with the aim of nurturing and

promoting emerging contemporary arts in Bangladesh.3

Both artists are extensively involved in regional and global art communities, having participated

in workshops in various parts of Southeast Asia as well as in London. Their work deals with a

broad range of subject matter, a large portion of which is overtly political, including regional

women’s rights, political oppression, the problematic legacy of Colonialism and the scars of the

1947 partition of the sub-continent and the 1971 liberation war.4 The notion of ‘parables’ has

been, in one form or another, the title of many of their solo and group shows, including the

pavilion at Venice.5 However, none of these shows have fully encompassed the broad range of

their work, which consist of large installation pieces, video art, as well as paintings using more

traditional media. As well, none have been shown in their own right in a North American

1 Islam, S. Manzoorul. "Mahbubur Rahman." Venice Biennale - Bangladesh Pavilion. http://www.venicebiennale-bangladeshpavilion.org/index.php?option=com_content. 2 Chatterjee, Madhusree. "South Asian Art Is Political: Bangladeshi Artist." Indo-Asian New Service. January 15, 2013. http://twocircles.net/2013jan15/south_asian_art_political_bangladeshi_artist.html. 3 Ibid4 Ibid5 Islam, S. Manzoorul. "Mahbubur Rahman." Venice Biennale - Bangladesh Pavilion.

context, but have merely been grouped together with a vastly discordant number of viewpoints

under the banner of ‘South and Southeast Asian Art.’ The migration of the narratives their works

represent, as well as the summative nature of the show makes Reinvented Parables, an apt title to

summarize the entirety of the exhibition.

Themes and OrganizationA circle is endless. It starts at one point and ends up at the same point; but at that point, it

loses its starting point. Any repetition happens again and again.

The power of materials can be understood when they are assembled or reassembled. The

energy or life of each object is emphasized by its interplay with other objects and the

combinations and relationships that are produced. What is the relationship between light

and shadow, warmth and cold, softness and hardness? How does it combine with air,

earth, fire and water, or light and spirit?

-Mahbubur Rahman6

A large part of the work of these two artists can be categorized as assemblages, using

unconventional and often utilitarian materials to create intricate sculptural pieces, performances,

as well as paintings. Each object, despite its ostensible banality, has a very specific contextual

significance, which is repeatedly questioned, disassembled, and reassembled into a diverse range

of interpretations. At the core of the experience is a sense of the visceral, whether it is the visual

sting of a cot made from razorblades, painfully etched tattoos on women’s bodies, or caged

fiberglass pigs emblazoned with bright neon signs. The questioning and examination of the

aesthetic and culturally significant qualities of materials is the approach by which both artists

attempt to engage with issues of civil justice and a problematic history.

The exhibition is designed for the mezzanine gallery of CUAG, beginning with Tayeba Begum

Lipi’s My Daughter’s Cot II in the balcony overhang, with the temporary walls displaying her

painted works within viewing distance, and then each subsequent enclosure between the

temporary walls modified to fit the dimensions of each section as outlined by the following

6 "Mahbubur Rahman." Kathmandu International Arts Festival. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://artmandu.org/mahbubur-rahman-2/.

pages. As a companion piece to the show at CUAG, a large-scale installation by Mahbubur

Rahman will be featured in the lobby of the River Building.

Prospective Audience and Relevance:This exhibition would be an installment in a series accompanying Emily Antler’s Alex Janvier:

Modernist Mountain Values, under the Multiple Modernisms Project. It would be congruent with

CUAG’s objectives in its past shows to feature modernist perspectives commonly under-

represented at larger institutions, such as Jamelie Hassan’s At the Far Edge of Words. In the

context of a university in the capital region, this exhibition is an appropriate context for

discussions and lecture series on post-colonial issues, challenges facing the developing world, as

well as globalization and its effects on indigenous cultures. Hence the scope of the exhibition

would ideally transcend beyond students of Art History and be of interest to those with

backgrounds in Political Sciences, History and Post-Colonial Literature. As well, with major

shows and successful sales at auctions in Major art communities around the world, these artists

are on the cusp of becoming a regional phenomenon, and their unfamiliar, yet stimulating

perspective would be warmly received.

Section 1(a): My Daughter’s Cot II

Tayeba Begum Lipi, My Daughter's Cot II, 2012. Stainless steel razor blades, 101.6 x 71.1 x 122 cm.7

The COT is only a cold empty space to me. I see, and at the same time do not see, the

nightmare of the bloody hours and months it took for me to make this piece.

I am from a large family. I'm the 11th of 12 children. I was born in the northern part of

Bangladesh in a very small town called Gaibandha. I watched my nephews and nieces grow

up next to me. Those days women gave birth at home with the help of a village woman.

The only tool to support the delivery was a new sharp razor blade that had to be boiled on a

stove before the baby was born. Perhaps this memory from my childhood stuck in my

head.8

One of Tayeba Begum Lipi’s signature techniques is the crafting of everyday objects, often with

an underlying feminist narrative, from hundreds of razor blades. Although they share a

resemblance to everyday, functional razor blades, each of these metal plates are slightly larger

7 All images are sourced from the artist’s facebook page, unless otherwise specified. http://www.facebook.com/tayeba.lipi8 Klein, Deepanjana D. "Sale 2686, Lot 3: My Daughter's Cot II." Christie's.com. http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/sculptures-statues-figures/tayeba-begum-lipi-my-daughters-cot-ii-5661020-details.aspx.

than the average article, and are fabricated by the artist herself.9 A larger counterpart of this

piece, an ornate bed frame, is currently on display at the No Country: Contemporary Art for

South and Southeast Asia at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The scale,

familiarity, and centrality of the piece to the artist’s oeuvre makes it a strong opening work in the

show.

Selection 1(b): Gothna SeriesBeyond exploring feminist narratives in an autobiographical context, Tayeba Begum Lipi’s work

also draws on representations of women in traditional art forms from neighbouring cultures. This

series of paintings is a collaboration by Lipi with artists working in the Mithila or Madhubani

indigenous tradition from Janakpur, Nepal.10 The influence of this style is visible in the stylized

figures and traditional motifs11 in the background of each composition. The central figures

themselves are richly embellished with Gothna, a form of tattoo art unique to the local Maithili

culture.12 The designs are often drawn from nature, and are executed, according to the Lipi, in a

very crude and painful manner. In order to distract themselves from the pain, the women sing

9 Klein, Deepanjana D. "Sale 2686, Lot 3: My Daughter's Cot II."10 "Tayeba Begum Lipi: Painting." Mahbub-lipi.com. http://www.mahbub-lipi.com/index.php?option=com_content.11 "Mahbubur Rahman: Residency at University of West of England." HAT International Research Fellowships.http://www.hat.mmu.ac.uk/residencies/gallery.php?artist=55. 12 Ibid

Tayeba Begum LipiWoman from Janakpur, 2007 Acrylic on Canvas, approx. 100x82 cm

Tayeba Begum LipiWoman from Janakpur 2, 2007 Acrylic on Canvas, approx. 100x82 cm

folk melodies.13 Hence, these representations layer visual representation, oral tradition, and a

style of depiction unique to a region and traditionally carried out by women.

The processes of piercing, slashing, and gouging which create these complex tattoo designs elicit

the same kind of visceral response from the viewer as My Daughter’s Cot II. Hence, they form a

strong companion series to the imposing sculptural installation, and allow for a transition

between the solid materiality of the cot and the subtle conceptualism of Lipi’s other works.

Similarly, the series itself progresses from literal depictions of tattooed women to the designs

being etched on the figure of an allegorical Venus, and then being transferred to the mystical and

archetypal Venus of Willendorf.

13 "Tayeba Begum Lipi: Painting."

Tayeba Begum Lipi, Gothna on Venus, 2007Cloth and Acrylic on Canvas, 100 x 82 cm

Tayeba Begum Lipi, Venus 3, 2007Acrylic on Canvas, approx. 100x82 cm(Dimensions comparable to Gothna on Venus)

Selection 1(c): Neel (The Indigo)These two paintings are part of Lipi’s output during her residency at Gasworks, a contemporary

art organization based in South London, in 2005.14 She was invited to develop new work in

response to a foreign context in London, furthering her exploration of themes of gender and

identity.15 In these two paintings, Lipi deals with the legacy of British Colonial rule, specifically

through her experience of folk narratives about colonial exploitation through forced large-scale

Indigo farming in the north of Bangladesh, where she was born, and its surrounding areas in

what is now India. While in London, Lipi researched the subject, and created these two

contemporary depictions of Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria.16 The East India Company was

established in the reign of the former, whereas the Colonial establishment made vast profits from

the trade of Indigo dye during the reign of the latter.17 Lipi intervenes in the dominant colonial

narrative represented by these iconic images through the insertion of Bengali text, and her own

blue-tinted and mummiform body in the foreground of the image.

14 "Gasworks: About Us." Gasworks. http://www.gasworks.org.uk/about/.15 "Visiting Arts Bulletin: Tayeba Begum Lipi, Residency (London)." Visiting Arts. April 2005. http://archive.newsweaver.com/visitingarts/newsweaver.co.uk.imngate.newsweaver.com/16 "Tayeba Begum Lipi: Painting."17 Ibid

Tayeba Begum Lipi, Neel (The Indigo), 2007Acrylic on canvas and other materials, 100 x 82 cm (x2)

Selection 2: TransformationParallel to his wife’s exploration of the colonial legacy, notably through the exploitation of

Indigo farmers, Mahbubur Rahman enacts this performance piece by donning a costume18 made

from ropes and buffalo horns.19 The performance is inspired by the story of Nuruldin, an

impoverished farmer who led a peasant uprising against the forced monoculture of Indigo by the

British in Northern Bengal in 1889.20 Deprived of the ability to grow staple crops to feed himself

and his family, Nuruldin is said to have taken the place of his oxen to plough his fields.21 His

struggle was epitomized in a verse-play by Syed Shamsul Haque, a writer from the same region

as Nuruldin22 and Tayeba Begum Lipi herself.23 From this personal access-point to a narrative of

resistance to colonial oppression, Rahman attempts to experience the entirety of Nuruldin’s

struggle by transforming

his mind and body, as

closely as possible, to

that of a buffalo. He

visits places where a

buffalo would go, and

eventually immerses

himself in a pond to

cleanse himself.24 The

performance plays with

a sense of impotence,

contrasting the symbolic

value of the horns with

18 "Mahbubur Rahman: Residency at University of West of England."19 "Mahbubur Rahman: Performance." Mahbub-lipi.com. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.mahbub-lipi.com/index.php?option=com_content. 20 Hassan, Mainul. "Nuruldin-er Shara Jibon: A Moving Study of Indigo Revolt." The Daily Star (Dhaka), July 28, 2009. http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=9887821 "Mahbubur Rahman: Performance."22 Hassan, Mainul. "Nuruldin-er Shara Jibon: A Moving Study of Indigo Revolt." The Daily Star23 Klein, Deepanjana D. "Sale 2686, Lot 3: My Daughter's Cot II."24 "Mahbubur Rahman: Performance."

Mahbubur Rahman, Video of Transformation, (performed 2004-2005). Costume Materials: Rope and Buffalo Horn.18 

the artist’s blind and helpless wanderings.25 The piece will be reproduced in video format for the

CUAG space.26

Selection 3: Cosmic World

25 "Residencies: Mahbubur Rahman (Bangladesh) 22 July 2005 - 30 September 2005." Gasworks. http://www.gasworks.org.uk/residencies/detail.php?id=279. 26 "Mahbubur Rahman: Residency at University of West of England."

Mahbubur Rahman, Cosmic World, 2007. Oil on Canvas, 175cm x 175cm. 26 

This series is the result of a collaborative workshop between rickshaw painters and contemporary Bangladeshi artists organized by the Britto Arts Trust.27 Hundreds of thousands of these rickshaws ply the streets of rural and urban Bangladesh, and the hodge-podge of imagery they depict, drawn from popular culture, history, and even contemporary politics, creates its own sort of saturated visual culture. In a manner analogous to pop art, Rahman translates these images onto canvas to invite the viewer to consider their sub-textual and contextual implications. For example, the Taj Mahal, at its surface a symbol of hyperbolic romance, also represents the complicated cultural legacy of the Mughals on the subcontinent.28 Whereas the National Assembly Building should symbolize democracy and freedom, it was, at the time of the painting, largely controlled by a coalition government of four fundamentalist parties.29 The Ahsan Manzil or Pink Palace is a popular Dhaka landmark, and also the erstwhile dwelling of the Dhaka Nawab family, once leaders of the Muslim League, who pushed for the partition of India.30 While Pope John Paul II is a popular religious leader, his anti-communist sympathies hold a very different significance in a predominantly Muslim society with strong socialist elements.31 All

27 Ibid28 "Residencies: Mahbubur Rahman (Bangladesh) 22 July 2005 - 30 September 2005." Gasworks29 "Residencies: Mahbubur Rahman (Bangladesh) 22 July 2005 - 30 September 2005." Gasworks30 Ibid31 Ibid

these images are contained within a human silhouette, an almost literal manifestation of the body politic. The naked figure in the fetal position in the other half of the canvas perhaps emphasizes the bareness, and consequentially, the absence of a political and cultural identity without these visual markers.

Section 4: “I was told to say these words…”

Mahbubur Rahman, “I was told to say these words…” 2010-2011, Fiberglass, metal rack, neon, sound, goatskin, cowhide. Dimensions Variable.32

This piece debuted at the first ever Bangladeshi Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale, accompanied by installations by five artists from the Britto Arts Trust.33 The Artist’s statement accompanying the piece is as follows:

Memories, like many ideas, are translucent and layered, often shifting out of focus and changing as we grow.

In the social system, the forbidden, arises many questions in our mind. Our curious mind looks for an explanation within the wider realm where we sometimes find answers, though answers never come out of mysteries. The norms in the diverse culture of societies are usually created according to the local atmosphere, weather and time. Many illogical norms co-exist bringing about conflict and compelling us to decide how we ought to act.

32 Islam, S. Manzoorul. "Mahbubur Rahman." Venice Biennale - Bangladesh Pavilion. http://www.venicebiennale-bangladeshpavilion.org/index.php?option=com_content.33 "Pavilion of Bangladesh: 54th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale Di Venezia." Venice Biennale - Bangladesh Pavilion. http://www.venicebiennale-bangladeshpavilion.org/.

The larger part of the community chooses the social norms whereas in multitudes of neighborhoods culture often expands basing on religious ideologies. A community even has inclinations to take a decision regarding domestic animals. In my country, for instance we are familiar in domesticating the cow but not pig. While it is almost forbidden to treat the pig as a domestic animal, growing up in a Muslim family, prejudiced feelings were instilled in me from a tender age.

Prior to this, some of my early projects on cow/cowhide were induced by strong emotions triggered from childhood memories, usually with a political criticism intrinsically being part of the work.

However, this installation takes a different kind of a stance interlinked with more of an emotional and conceptual premise. I have tried to sift through a natural view rather than centering on ideological beliefs, to reveal the existence of the animal, such as a pig in my society. Perceiving life through this animal, which is cloned by the structure of a pig and the hide of cow, I tried to create a vague trust on a new product.

In the installation, I have wrapped the fibreglass-made pigs with goat and cowhide; and inserted a neon word piece -“Ma” meaning mother.34

34 Islam, S. Manzoorul. "Mahbubur Rahman." Venice Biennale - Bangladesh Pavilion.

Section 5: Agony

Tayeba Begum Lipi, Agony, 2011, Single Channel Video with Sound. Duration: 3:00 min Dimensions Variable.35

The final piece in the show is a video work by Tayeba Begum Lipi that poignantly sums up the

central theme of the show through its disassembly and reconstruction of images and narratives.

The artist begins cutting strips out of newspapers in various languages, containing headlines and

bulletins of all sorts.36 These compile over a period of time into a massive mound, the words and

images losing meaning through fragmentation, and then being randomly interpolated with each

other to form an unintelligible mass. Eventually, the mound of debris grows so large that it

engulfs the artist entirely. The handling of all this information, yet the reader’s inability to

process it entirely, creating a jumbled heap of chaos, is, to Lipi, emblematic of the helpless

agony of the masses, subjected to countless depictions of violence, misfortune, and disaster.37

The useless byproduct of this process is a mass of information debris, which ultimately achieves

nothing, and can vanish in an instant.38

35 Zaman, Mustafa, ed. "Rip Off/rip Open, 19th Edition of the National Art Exhibition." Depart, 6th Issue. http://www.departmag.com/archive/6th_issue/rip_off_rip_open.html.36 The piece can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH25Hj-SO5s37 "Agony: Tayeba Begum Lipi." YouTube. August 05, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH25Hj-SO5s.38 Ibid

(Optional) Section 6: ReplacementAs an extension of Reinvented Parables at CUAG, one of Mahbubur Rahman’s most recent

works, Replacement, which premiered at the India Art Fair earlier this year,39 will be featured as

a public art installation in the lobby of the River Building. Keeping with Rahman’s exploration

of flexible, organic membranes to create layered and malleable narratives, as in “I was told to

say these words…” this work features an Ambassador car fully upholstered in leather, with a

vast, domed mound of army boots emerging from the rear. Inside the rear dome, tables and

chairs upholstered in cowhide become the surface for a projection featuring two pairs of hands,

incriminating documents, the sound of dripping water, the clanging of an iron door, and the

plodding of boots, creating an environment akin to an interrogation room.40 Rahman thus

subverts the cultural connotation of the Ambassador car, recognized by many in the Indian

subcontinent as a symbol of authority, and links it to repression and armed force, not unlike that

experienced during partition, and a series of civil wars and crises since independence.41 The

placement of the piece in the vicinity of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, located just outside the

building, will further enrich its interpretation. Replacement stands in direct contradiction to

Gandhi’s ideals of non-violence. Besides being a powerful promotional piece for the CUAG

exhibition, this installation would be an appropriate thematic companion to Reinvented Parables.

39 Chatterjee, Madhusree. "South Asian Art Is Political: Bangladeshi Artist." Indo-Asian New Service.40 Ibid41 Ibid

Mahbubur Rahman, Replacement, 2013, Hindustan Ambassador, leather, combat boots, furniture, cowhide, and video projection with sound. Dimensions Unknown.

Works Cited

"Agony: Tayeba Begum Lipi." YouTube. August 05, 2011. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH25Hj-SO5s.

Chatterjee, Madhusree. "South Asian Art Is Political: Bangladeshi Artist." Indo-Asian New Service. January 15, 2013. http://twocircles.net/2013jan15/south_asian_art_political_bangladeshi_artist.html.

"Gasworks: About Us." Gasworks. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.gasworks.org.uk/about/. Ginwala, Natasha. "The 5th India Art Fair and Parallel Events." Art Agenda, February 1, 2013.

http://www.art-agenda.com/reviews/the-5th-india-art-fair-and-parallel-events/. Hassan, Mainul. "Nuruldin-er Shara Jibon: A Moving Study of Indigo Revolt." The Daily Star

(Dhaka), July 28, 2009. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=98878.

Islam, S. Manzoorul. "Mahbubur Rahman." Venice Biennale - Bangladesh Pavilion. Accessed

April 9, 2013. http://www.venicebiennale-bangladeshpavilion.org/index.php?option=com_content.

Klein, Deepanjana D. "Sale 2686, Lot 3: My Daughter's Cot II." Christie's.com. Accessed April

9, 2013. http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/sculptures-statues-figures/tayeba-begum-lipi-my-daughters-cot-ii-5661020-details.aspx.

"Mahbubur Rahman." Kathmandu International Arts Festival. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://artmandu.org/mahbubur-rahman-2/.

"Mahbubur Rahman: Performance." Mahbub-lipi.com. Accessed April 9, 2013.

http://www.mahbub-lipi.com/index.php?option=com_content. "Mahbubur Rahman: Residency at University of West of England." HAT International Research

Fellowships. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.hat.mmu.ac.uk/residencies/gallery.php?artist=55.

"Pavilion of Bangladesh: 54th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale Di Venezia." Venice Biennale - Bangladesh Pavilion. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.venicebiennale-bangladeshpavilion.org/.

Ray, Shreya. "Preview | Eastern Promises." Livemint.com, March 6, 2013. http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/HWkxhhNDVbK28n1PN57nnK/Preview--Eastern-promises.html?facet=print.

"Residencies: Mahbubur Rahman (Bangladesh) 22 July 2005 - 30 September 2005." Gasworks.

Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.gasworks.org.uk/residencies/detail.php?id=279.

"Residencies: Tayeba Begum Lipi (Bangladesh) 8 July 2005 - 30 September 2005." Gasworks. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.gasworks.org.uk/residencies/detail.php?id=280.

"Tayeba Begum Lipi: Painting." Mahbub-lipi.com. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.mahbub-

lipi.com/index.php?option=com_content. "Visiting Arts Bulletin: Tayeba Begum Lipi, Residency (London)." Visiting Arts. April 2005.

http://archive.newsweaver.com/visitingarts/newsweaver.co.uk.imngate.newsweaver.com/visitingarts/e_article00038261764e4.html.

Zaman, Mustafa, ed. "Rip Off/rip Open, 19th Edition of the National Art Exhibition." Depart, 6th Issue. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.departmag.com/archive/6th_issue/rip_off_rip_open.html.