Novera Ahmed (29 March 1939 – 6 May 2015)
was a modern sculptor of Bangladesh. She was awarded
Ekushey Padak
Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...
by the Government of Bangladesh in 1997.
Artist
Zainul Abedin
Zainul Abedin (29 December 1914 – 28 May 1976) was a Bangladeshi painter born in Mymensingh, East Bengal, British India (now Bangladesh). He became well known in 1944 through his series of paintings depicting some of the great famines in ...
described her work saying "What Novera is doing now will take us a long time to understand – she is that kind of an artist."
[
]
Early life and education
Ahmed was born on 29 March 1939, in Sundarbans in the then Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
, British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.[ Her ancestral home was in ]Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
.[ She studied in Calcutta and ]Comilla
Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...
. In 1955 she was awarded a diploma in Design in the Modeling and Sculpture course from Camberwell College of Arts
Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...
in London. At Camberwell, she studied under the British sculptor Jacob Epstein
Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911.
He often produc ...
and Karel Vogel of Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. In 1966, she met Danish artist Asger Jorn
Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...
in Paris.[ She studied European sculpture under the sculptor Venturino Venturi in ]Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and later in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. She was influenced by many western modern sculptors such as Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
.[
]
Career
Ahmed jointly worked with Hamidur Rahman
Hamidur Rahman was born on 2 February 1953 Khardo Khalishpur, Moheshpur, Jhenaidah, Khulna Division, Bangladesh former East BengalHamidur Rahman, BS (2 February 195328 October 1971) was a sepoy in Bangladesh Army during the Bangladesh Li ...
on the original design of the Shaheed Minar, Dhaka
The Shaheed Minar ( bn, শহীদ মিনার ''Shohid Minar'' lit. "Martyr Monument") is a national monument in Dhaka, Bangladesh, established to commemorate those killed during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations of 1952 in th ...
. During 1956–1960, she had done about 100 sculptures in Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
. Out of her 100 sculptures, 33 sculptures are currently in Bangladesh National Museum
The Bangladesh National Museum ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় জাদুঘর), is the national museum of Bangladesh. The museum is well organized and displays have been housed chronologically in several departments like dep ...
. Ahmed's first exhibition was held in University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
in 1960.[ Another exhibition of her works was held in ]Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
in 1961. Her last exhibition was also held in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in July 1973.[
]
Style and technique
Ahmed's early works resembled geometrical forms made by stones and concrete and anthropomorphic forms - mixing the human figure and animals.[ Then she used iron and steel and later bronze. She began spray paintings, using plane crash remains from the US army (1964–1969).][ After her bad accident, her drawings included shapes and figures of a meditative character: space, island, birds in the sky, phoenix, flowers, water, sunshine and the moon, minimalist landscapes, human figures turned toward a new horizon and others.][
]
Personal life
Ahmed was married to a police officer in mid 1954 in Calcutta. The couple got divorced in late 1954.[ She started living in France in the 1970s.] She married Gregoire de Brouhns in 1984.
Death and legacy
Ahmed suffered a stroke in 2010 and she was in a wheelchair since then.[ She died on 6 May 2015 at a hospital in Paris, France.] In August 2017, the ministry of cultural affairs of the Government of Bangladesh
The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...
announced a plan to purchase ten paintings of Ahmed for $47,000.
On 29 March 2019, search engine Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
commemorated Ahmed with a Doodle
A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...
on her 80th birth anniversary.
Selected works
Image:Composition by Novera Ahmed.jpg, Composition
Image:Reclining Figure.jpg, Reclining Figure
Image:Seated Woman Sculpture.jpg, Seated Woman
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Novera
1939 births
2015 deaths
People from Chittagong
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
Modern sculptors
Bangladeshi women sculptors
Bangladeshi women artists
Artists from Chittagong
Bengali women artists
20th-century Bangladeshi sculptors
20th-century Indian sculptors
20th-century women artists
Recipients of the Ekushey Padak
20th-century Indian women