NATIONALISM IN ARTWORKS: A REPRESENTATION ANALYSIS ON ‘ADAM SUROT’ (THE INNER STRENGTH) PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)

NATIONALISM IN ARTWORKS: A REPRESENTATION ANALYSIS ON ‘ADAM SUROT’ (THE INNER STRENGTH)

Aftab Hossain1*, Juliana Abdul Wahab2 1 Daffodil International University Universiti Sains Malaysia 2 Universiti Sains Malaysia

Email: [email protected]

Aftab Hossain1*, Juliana Abdul Wahab2: Nationalism In Artworks: A Representation Analysis On ‘Adam Surot’ (The Inner Strength) -- Palarch’s Journal Of Archaeology Of Egypt/Egyptology 17(7). ISSN 1567-214x Keywords: Arts, Paintings, SM Sultan, Bengali, Nationalism, Documentary

ABSTRACT In this study, we can see the analysis of artworks of renowned Bengali artist SM Sultan’s pioneering approach of representing nationalism in his artworks. It made him widespread around the globe during the post - Second World War period. The thoughts behind signifying nationalism in artworks were identified by the internationally knows filmmaker Taeque Masud. According to his documentary film ‘Adam Surot’ (The Inner Strength), the study was conducted. The qualitative research method was opted by following the narrative analysis method. After the analysis, we have found many dynamics of nationalism in his unorthodox approach of paintings, such as materials and thoughts that proved his inner strengths for his people.

SM Sultan Sheikh Mohammed Sultan (August 10, 1923 – October 10, 1994) was popularly known as SM Sultan. The famous Bengali artist was acknowledged for his divergent and Avant – Grade paintings and artworks representing the Bengali farmers and the oppressed people since the British rule to independent period. With the help of famous art historian and critic Shahed Suhrawardy, Sultan joined the Calcutta Art School but after three years he left without a degree (Bengal Foundation). He was also known for his colorful, diverse, and

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NATIONALISM IN ARTWORKS: A REPRESENTATION ANALYSIS ON ‘ADAM SUROT’ (THE INNER STRENGTH) PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)

bohemian life. Soon after leaving college his journey of unconventional life started in a full phase. According to (Islam) Sultan wandered different places to India and during the Second World War he stayed at Kashmir and for living he was drawing portraits of the allied forces. His first solo exhibition was in Simla in 1946 but none of these works were saved as he was not putting a concentration to archive his works. Soon after the world war, Sultan came back to East-Pakistan and started to live in Narail, in his home town. His fame was more explored at that time and he joined art and painting exhibitions in New York, Washington, Chicago, and Boston, and later in London. He left for Karachi in 1951 and started teaching painting. In 1951, he again came back to Narail and since then he was living an isolated life except for some visits to Dhaka for exhibition works. Sultan’s personal life was more exotic and colorful where he lived with his pet cats and snakes but his philosophy behind his paintings and artworks are a subject to be more explored (Masud T. , interview on Adam Surot, 2010), Adam Surot (The Inner Strength) ‘Adam Surot’ is the first feature-length documentary film by late filmmaker Tareque Masud. The filming of this documentary started in 1982 (Tareque Masud Memorial Trust) and ended in 1989 (Dhaka Tribune). The film was directed by the late Tareque Masud and cinematographed by Late Mishuk Munier. The filming period of this documentary was not only a film shooting; it was a journey of Tareque Masud and his associates with SM Sultan. The documentary was filmed in 16mm film roll and at that time it was very expensive for filmmakers. The dynamic duo of Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier took the challenge at they have struggled a lot while finishing this project. According to (Masud C. , 2014) with an almost nonexistent budget, considerable logistic support, and the bureaucratic complexes delayed the film’s final publication and projection. But the courage, commitment, and spirit of independent filmmaking made it possible to reach the journey’s destination. The ‘Inner Strength’ of Sultan was reflected in the director’s life at that time and in the following years as well.

The Narrative Strategy ‘Adam Surot’ is a documentary film concentrated more on the artworks and the philosophy of SM Sultans life and thoughts. According to (Masud T. , Tareque Masud interview on Adam Surot, 2010), he and his associates were filming more on the village and its inner beauty by the eyes of Sultan rather than Sultan as a person with an exotic lifestyle. While skipping this attractive part of Sultan, Tareque Masud filmed more on the village and its cultural influence. It is visible throughout the visual narrative of ‘Adam Surot’. The Bengali New Year Festival, village fair, folk culture, and

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especially Baul songs were represented during the film. The iconic Bengali rural culture was represented from the monologues of Sultan and narration by the filmmaker with visuals. Documentary storytelling is mainly structured into three acts or parts. According to Daniel Raim, the Academy Award-nominated documentary director and writer; these acts are the beginning, middle, and end (Raim, 2018). The 47 minutes duration film is formed into three narrative sections with interviews of SM Sultan, different monologues were used and voice- over narration. The narration was used as the directors’ point of view format. This means the director himself was trying to explain his points and used the narration as the medium to link the story. The film starts with the narration about Sheikh Muhammed Sultan and his early life. Then the narration drives the audience about his turning points as an artist where he left the glamorous life and starts living an ordinary secluded life at his own village home at Narail in Bangladesh. Here we get the motive from Sultan’s monologue and find the reason for his homecoming journey. The maestro explains forming his painting school for village children for free where he teaches and provides food for them to learn painting. At the second stage, discovers the psychoanalysis of SM Sultan’s art and painting. Here the narrative says why and how his artworks shifted to different mediums in his later career. During his earlier days in Kashmir, Sultan used to work with oil paintings till he came back to his village home. In this period of life, he decided to work with watercolor. This medium of color was inexpensive and the materials of the colors were collected from natural sources. Before finding the perfect match for his momentary captures in canvas, Sultan has tried to work with Charcoals, pastels, pen and ink, and spatula techniques. All these logistics were tried after his declining interest in oil paintings. While using oil painting especially during the Kashmir days, the influence of Van Gogh was noticeable in Sultan’s paintings. After coming back to his roots, he decided to work with watercolors and working more on the landscapes of the natural beauty of Bangla. In this stage, he found that the modernist trend is taking us away from the roots and soil. His inner thought about modernism in art was looking down from the peak of a mountain or a skyscraper. That means modernism was taking away the artists from their very own people (Masud T. , Adam Surot - The Inner Strength, 1989). The ending act of ‘Adam Surot’ explains the meaning of his artworks. His representation of artworks, the expressive way to represent the oppressed, the nationalism, and the connection with the people is the key factor of the storyteller’s closing of this documentary film. Here the narrative was connecting to the personal life of Sultan. The story ends with the monologue; that after his homecoming at Narail, Sultan tried to work on nature and the local peasants and gradually he proudly became one of them

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rather than living a glamorous life of an internationally praised artist at that time. Discussion/Analysis The more than 47 minutes duration documentary film ‘Adam Surot’ epilogues with the eyes of SM Sultan and his perception towards life and his works with the local peasants. According to Tarque Masud, the director of this film, this was not filmmaking and within the process, it was a journey where he and his associates visit the roots of Bangla with the eyes of Sultan (Masud T. , Tareque Masud interview on Adam Surot, 2010). While analyzing the film as content, it has seemed that there are some dynamics of Sultan was projected during the film. Neither is it an autobiography nor a memoir of Sultan. The narrative’s buildup leads us to the Bengali nationalism of Sultan and his representations during the oppression periods of the local country-dwellers. Here are some of the analyses based on the narrative contents and indication comes up as the reflection of Bengali nationalism in Sultan from the documentary film ‘Adam Surot’: Paintings signifying Bengali local peasants The artworks of Sultan were always a reflection of true rural Bengali culture. The artworks of the artist and his philosophy behind the artworks were reflected during the entire film. The reflection of Bengali farmers and workers were noticeably visible in the paintings of Sultan. Sultan started his career with portraits and paintings of different parts of India, but later when he came back to Narail permanently, his paintings were influenced by nature and the local farmers. In this period he changed his orientation of the painting format and switched to landscapes. The subjects were different at this stage. Peasants working in the field and their daily lifestyle were reflected in this painting era of Sultan. This made him connected to the local people and people could also relate their daily life in Sultan’s paintings. “Many may not think the life of the peasantry could be a subject of art. But I don’t think there should be any objection if I choose the people who produce our crops and provides our food as the topic of my paintings.” – (Sultan, 1989) The contemporary artists in this sub-continent were rushing into modernism in their artistic philosophy, where Sultan came back to his root and selected the nature and people of the rustic Bengal. Some artists were influenced by their predecessors and they followed their way of artworks where Sultan came back and started to work with his style and followed the rural natural beauty and got associated with the people. According to (Sofa, 1987) as a painter, Sultan stands apart from the other contemporary painters of his time. Neither he had predecessors nor did he have successors. It made him unique as a character that lived his own isolated life with his very own original works. The muscular illustration of the oppressed If we observe Sultan’s work after he came back to Bangladesh, it is very much evident that in his

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paintings the peasant’s physical portrayal was muscular. They were strong, they were working and they were involved in the development of agronomy. In the documentary ‘Adam Surot’ Sultan’s beliefs behind his artworks were demonstrated clearly. Sultan is not only an artist but he was an illustrator of the oppressed. The portrayals of the oppressed were stroked in his canvas through the protest against the capitalist economic system. The paintings got more and more visually protestant after the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. The impact of the war placed a deep influence in his mind and he tried to be the voice with brush and color for the oppressed national mass. The paintings represented the people who had to struggle very hard to earn their meals. But these are the people who provide a meal for the whole nation. According to his monologue in this film, foreign aids do not reach these people when they come for the rural people and their development. So either the capitalist economy or the mediocre people are getting the benefits but the peasants. So Sultan decided to raise his voice for them with his brush. But his way of protest was different. The more they were deprived they became more physically stronger in his paintings. “If I were to paint them realistically, I’d have to portray them as thin and malnourished. But in my mind, I don’t see them that way. They are always ready to face any struggle. That’s why they appear strong and masculine, to show that they are healthy and physically fit.” - (Sultan, 1989) After the liberation war, Sultan went closer to the soil, and during his self- living low life; he perceived that the farmers were the majority who went to the war without any personal dispute with the ruling government of Pakistan, they went to the war to protest the repression. But soon after the war ended these people came back to their homes despite demanding their losses during wartime. Additionally, these people became the victims of the newly independent country. According to (Chowdhury, 2014) Sultan rediscovered the Bengal and established rapport with his rural societies he represented the deprived local peasants through his painting with muscles and strong physique. The human became muscular and strong also the agro- domestic animal like cows and bulls were portrayed in a powerful, energetic appearance. The landscapes in homemade canvas Tareque Masud’s ‘Adam Surot’ focuses mostly on Sultans philosophy of art and the documentary smoothly avoids his personal life (Masud T. , Tareque Masud interview on Adam Surot, 2010). The film mainly focuses on his residency in Bangladesh and the period where Sultan finds his inner strength in the inner or rural beauty of Bangladesh. According to the documentary film, Sultan was more concentrating on the landscapes rather than following his early life portrait paintings. These paintings were painted locally made canvas on Jute. When Sultan was trying to paint more and more about the inner beauty of the local people and nature he realized the foreign-made canvases are expensive. In his self-exile life, there was no such money he was making as he was detached from society. In the aftermath, he was dependent on the contributions of local people and friends. So it was almost impossible for him to buy the canvases for his paintings. Then he decided to make canvases from the local ingredients.

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“Foreign canvas is very expensive. Just one yard is 400 – 600 Taka. It’s much cheaper if I paint on jute. To make it last, I have to coat it with some kind of gum.” - (Sultan, 1989) Sultan did not give up his works due to the expensive foreign canvas. The canvases became cheaper when he used locally made jute canvas. His epic landscapes became widespread and he continued his journey to paint with the locally made canvas. In continuation, Bangladesh Shilpa Bank requested him to paint an immense sized landscape of the rural beauty of Bengal for their entrance. Sultan did it. His methods of invention were inspiring. When he realized the jute made canvases are getting awkward shapes in the rainy season, he gave a protective coating from the Gab fruit; local fishermen used to coat their nets from water for longevity. All these materials are collected from the local nature and the sources were almost free. According to (Laxman, 2016) Sultan never backed up his works giving the excuse of the expensive materials but he transformed his methods of painting materials using natural sources like the collection of gunny bags, seasoned and strengthened them by adding some natural glue. These inspiring attempts made him the icon of Bengali painter. Usage of locally made colors Sultan started his early life works with oil colors. During the Second World War time, Sultan went to Kashmir and traveled all over India to paint different landscapes and portrays. But this journey became fugitive when he tried to settle down in Karachi. During this period he was using foreign-made oil colors to paint his masterpieces. He also tried using other variations like charcoal, pastels, and others. In this time he became a phenomenon in Pakistan and around the world for his usage of colors and colorful painting especially the colorful strokes with a knife (Ali, 1952) But later when he finally came back to his motherland and started living a self-exiled life, he faced challenges to collect these foreign-made colors. Then he thought to concentrate on the color sources naturally found in his surroundings. He became dependent on his home environments and found the color sources from nature. According to the film, he transferred to watercolor in this period and the sources became red and yellow oxide, zinc oxide to make the colors. He invented this style to paint his epic canvas landscapes as well as to help the local art students who are financially challenged to paint and experiment with foreign-made colors. “I experimented with refining the powders, then mixing them with varnish and linseed oil to paint large canvases. What’s wrong with that? I was able to make large quantities of paint, to paint the large canvases. In this country, there is no trend of large canvas painting. It’s very costly with foreign paints.” - (Sultan, 1989) These innovative ideas of Sultan gave him the advantage to paint the large canvas paintings and to set up the trend in this region. If we thoroughly examine his works then we can see the usage of green and brown were inevitable in all of his landscapes and portrays too. His passion for nature

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and farming was the reason for this illustration cannot be denied. Also, the highlight of brown represents nationalism in his paintings too. In most of the landscapes, he picked green or brown to paint the agro fields. But the noticeable thing is, he never painted any buildings or high-rise structures. All the paintings were representing the rural nature of Bengal and the houses he painted were the locality of the peasants. All the residence was painted in different shades of brown. The housings of the rural people were drawn as the home of bamboo, soil, and tree leaves. And the human drawing and portraits were colored brown representing the skin tone of Bengali people. According to (Laxman, 2016) Sultan found his Inner Strength in the poor and rural people of Bengal. And with this strength, he lived the rest of his life.

References Ali, S. A. (1952). A Young Artis from East Bengal. Pakistan Quarterly. Bengal Foundation. (n.d.). https://bengalfoundation.org/artist/s-m-sultan/. Retrieved October 05, 2018, from https://bengalfoundation.org/: https://bengalfoundation.org/artist/s-m-sultan/ Chowdhury, K. (2014). S. M. Sultan. In Adam Surot - The Inner Strength. Bengal Foundation. Dhaka Tribune. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2018, from https://www.dhakatribune.com/showtime/2017/08/12/tareque- masuds-legacy Islam, S. M. (n.d.). Banglapadia. Retrieved October 2018, from .org: http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sultan,_SM Laxman, J. (2016, September 1). Political Among Falsely Political Artists: Know SM Sultan (1923-1994). Retrieved October 2018, from http://johnyml.blogspot.com: http://johnyml.blogspot.com/2016/09/political-among-falsely- political.html Masud, C. (2014). Adam Surot (The Inner Strenght). Dhaka: Bengal Foundation. Masud, T. (Director). (1989). Adam Surot - The Inner Strength [Motion Picture]. Masud, T. (2010). Tareque Masud interview on Adam Surot. (C. Masud, Interviewer) Raim, D. (2018). Retrieved October 2018, from desktop- documentaries.com:https://www.desktop- documentaries.com/documentary-structure.html Sofa, A. (1987). The Uniqueness of Sultan's Paintings. SM Sultan and His Paintings. Dhaka: German Cultural Centre. Sultan, S. (1989). Adam Surot - The Inner Strength. Tareque Masud Memorial Trust. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2018, from tarequemasud.org: http://tarequemasud.org/

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