Sketchbook
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Auto-ethnographic drawing journal
A Prayer for Softer Lands
2023-2026
This project started from my very personal practice of sketchbooking both as a way to observe my surrounding and also as a coping ritual. In that, the interaction between my hometown Dhaka and my mental health becomes embedded in my drawings.
I use multi-screen projection and animated drawings to express how our environment affects our mental health and investigate what a softer space can be. This project has a series of installations, exhibitions, and a short film as the output of the artistic research.
Over Seas
2024
The animated documentary film is a result of a Creative Atelier workshop supervised by José Miguel Ribeiro in the context of Re:Anima Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters programme, in University of Lusofona, Portugal.
The film and the interviews are made possible by the collaborative effort of the third intake students of Re:Anima. All participant equally took part in the direction and development of the film, and different parts of the animation production was distributed among the participants.
The film won the 1st prize in the Best Short Film Masters and Doctorate category in the 11th Sophia Estudante Festival in Portugal.
Dogs of the City
2022
This hand drawn frame by frame animation depicts a story of an indoor dog and a group of street dogs. In this film I have imagined a nocturnal Dhaka, where people sleep and the dogs take over and roam around, establishing their reign in the city. Perhaps, in a way, it is also a representation of looking at the life and activities of this ever dynamic city from the isolation of an apartment building.
I chose to use loosely drawn lines to animate this film in order to create an ambiguity between the real and the imagination.
The soundscape of this micro format cinema was designed by Zen Parvez.
Isolation and Paranoia
2020
In this project I explored the spontaneous ideas and images that appeared in my mind during the period of isolation in my studio. The images that were produced reflected my thoughts and concerns during this Covid-19 crisis. I used traditional 2D animation techniques to reflect the unease and paranoia of that period.
Khosra is a (virtual) space to share work in ‘progress’/work beyond ‘formats’ or the work that ‘undo’ existing practice. Khosra explores the collective response of artists at home during ‘new normal’.
The project was commissioned by Bengal Arts Programme.
Secret of Fireflies
2019-2023
Secret of Fireflies is an animated short-film commissioned and produced by Team Platform. This film is based on a folk-lore of the Mru Tribes of Bangladesh. The story depicts a tragic love story of a young girl from a small village on the hills of Banderban, Chittagong Hill Tract.