MAHBUBUR REHMAN
Born in 1969, Mahbubur Rahman lives and works in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Rahman received his MFA from the University of Dhaka. One of Bangladesh's leading contemporary artists, Rahman works in a range of mediums, including painting, photography, sculpture as well as performances. His works have consistently questioned his post-war identity and the fabric of social structure in Bangladesh.
Some of his selected presentations include, ‘Faces of Intimate Strangers’ at the Shanghai Modern Art Museum, China (2018), ‘The City’, Kathmandu Triennale (2017), ‘The Artist as Activist’ at The Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, US (2016), ‘Dust to Dust’, Bengal Art Foundation, Bangladesh (2015), ‘Making History’, Colombo Art Biennale, Sri Lanka (2014), ‘Parables’, The Bangladesh Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale, Italy (2011), the 5th to the 14th Asian Art Biennales, Dhaka, Bangladesh (1991-2010), ‘Videozoom: Bangladesh’, Rome, Italy (2010), Mahbubur Rahman at The Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India (2009) and at the Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2008). He is also the co-founder of Britto Arts Trust (2002), which is Bangladesh’s first artist-run alternative arts platform with an aim to encourage international collaborations and residencies, host exhibitions and lead alternative arts practices in Bangladesh.
About The Work
Courtesy of Blueprint 12, New Delhi
The work draws direct references to the post-war politics that unfolded in Yemen, after the Second World War. This idea of Operation Magic Carpet was materialized by the artist during his research on food politics. The political unrest in Yemen across decades resulted in multifaceted struggles for the people, out of which the deadliest has been the famine. Each part of the work is rooted in the regional identity and struggle of Yemen and its people. Thebuilding resembles the Yemeni mud architecture and it is half covered with the Arabic scarf, underlining the governing geo-politics of the Arab world, at large.