‘Seeking Sacred Beauty: The Devotional Art of Malay Bala’, a traditional Bengali Art exhibition, opened on Saturday, October 18, at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) in the capital’s Dhanmondi.
This marks the third solo exhibition of artist Dr Malay Bala. Professor at the Department of Oriental Art, Faculty of Fine Art, Dhaka University, showcasing 80 traditional Bengali paintings that explore the narrative themes of Shakuntala, Dharma, Pobitro Nari (Sacred Women), and Prakriti (Sacred Nature).
The opening ceremony was joined by distinguished guests including Ekyshey Padak-winning renowned photographer Nasir Ali Mamun, eminent artist Samar Majumder, and writer Sharifa Akhter, who joined in celebrating Bala’s spiritual and artistic journey.
Employing Bengali watercolor, gouache, tempura and most notably Abanindranath Tagore’s wash technique, Bala’s works encompass sublime themes of divine creation; enlightened masters Buddha and Krishna; the sacred feminine and virgin nature; as well as celestial bliss and dance. Devoted to indigenous Bengali Art principles, content, styles and natural materials, the artwork remarkably reflects both Ananda Coomaraswamy’s Sacred Art ideals and Rabindranath Tagore’s swadeshi spirit, as renewed expressions of Bengali Traditional art.
Asked to describe his artwork, Bala remarks “I paint to seek, meditate upon and become closer to God. My heart senses the Divine within the sacred myths, spiritual masters, Prakriti, and divine grace of women that I strive to paint.”
The exhibition curator Mikhail Idris, Learning Designer, Learning-Design Studio, adds that Bala “reveals a spiritual impulse to illuminate the sacred world, nature and beings his heart beholds. His art symbolizes, remembers and contemplates the Sacred, to mysteriously rekindle the soul’s vocation for Divine union.”
Dedicated to the eminent wood sculptor, freedom fighter and Ekushey Padak recipient Ferdousi Priyabhashini, this 11-day exhibition will be inaugurated by Special Guests photographer Nasir Ali Mamun, artist Samar Majumdar and writer Sharifa Akhter; ending on October 28th, 2025.
The exhibition is open to all, every Monday to Friday from 3 to 9 pm.
