The parents’ beloved “Lal Miah” was SM Sultan. Today is the 103rd birthday of the internationally renowned painter SM Sultan. He was born on 10 August 1924 to father Mesher Ali and mother Maju Bibi in Machimdia, Narail. His father was a mason by profession, and Sultan grew up battling life in a poor household; his parents fondly called him “Lal Miah”. He died, after illness, on 10 October 1994 at Jashore Combined Military Hospital. The “painter of soil and people” was laid to eternal rest in the museum grounds in the Kurigram area of his native Narail town.
In recognition of his art, SM Sultan received the Ekushey Padak in 1982, the Swadhinata (Independence) Padak in 1993, Resident Artist recognition in 1984, and a Bangladesh Fine Artists’ Council honour in 1986, along with “Man of the Year” from Cambridge University, “Man of Achievement” from the Biographical Centre in New York, and “Man of Asia” from Asiaweek magazine, among various awards. In the brush of the “Lal Miah” of the banks of the Chitra river, poverty-stricken, labouring people found a different dignity. He painted working people as muscular, giving them prominence as strong and resolute of spirit. Besides painting, he was skilled at playing the flute and kept various animals, including venomous snakes, mongooses and cats.
After the celebrated artist’s death, a Sultan memorial museum, a children’s park (Shishuswarga), an art college and various development works grew up around his residence. The nature-wrapped surroundings of the memorial museum, with its many kinds of flowers, always enchant Sultan-lovers, and his mobile Shishuswarga — a double-decker boat — on the banks of the calm, clear Chitra river draws visitors. SM Sultan memorial museum curator Tandra Mukherjee said colourful programmes had been arranged in Narail for the artist’s 103rd birthday, including a Quran khatam, a children’s painting festival, tributes at Sultan’s grave, an art camp and the opening of a children’s art exhibition, a discussion meeting, and the award of the “SM Sultan Honour Medal” to painter Professor Dr Abdus Sattar. Culture Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury MP will be chief guest. The events are organised by the fine-arts department of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. The district administration has sent proposals to the relevant ministry for works to develop the Sultan museum and make the area tourism-friendly, the museum official said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report