Expat artist stands beside local artists

Artist Anil Hossain has been living in Germany for the last 45 years, but he never gave up his dream of working for his motherland – Bangladesh. To realise the dream, for the last 20 years he and his wife Neharika Hossain have been running an art centre and a gallery established by them in Germany. 

"Bengali Shilpi Goshthi", a platform of Bangladeshi artists was also formed under Anil's aegis. When these artists were facing a grave crisis during the novel coronavirus pandemic, Anil curated their paintings, and posted them on social media under the title "Buy Artworks, Save Artists' Lives."

Preeti Deb, one of these artists, came in contact with Anil in 2019. Then, this year the two artists met during the Asiatic Society's exhibition titled "Joler Dhara." At that time they selected five male and five female artists for an exhibition in Germany in 2021. 

The 10 artists selected for the exhibition are Preeti Deb, Md Mahafuzur Rahman, Sidratul Afia Mohona, Shahed Mohammad, Tania Parvez, Shohag Parvej, Farisa Mahmud, Shubhra Sarkar, Bilash Das Prem, and Kishore Majumdar.

Anil said it is not possible to help everyone in his homeland, but at least he could help 10 people. So, he worked hard to sell the paintings of 10 artists amid the pandemic, and succeeded.

Anil said, "I wish humanity will spread throughout the world. It is humanity that is still keeping the world beautiful."

Neharika said, "We see very few watercolor works in Germany. I am very glad that I invited these 10 artists to our gallery and was able to assist them now."

But that's not the entire story of helping each other. After Anil and Neharika assisted the Bangladeshi artists, those artists took an initiative to assist vulnerable people here. 

They donated a portion of the money they earned from selling paintings in Germany to providing food for 25 families for at least seven days.

Preeti said, "We are not sitting silently during this sick time on Earth."

"An artist couple from Germany stood beside the new generation of Bangladeshi artists. If Anil can care so much for artists in his homeland, then Bangladeshi entrepreneurs will also definitely be with us. They will help us with all their heart," she added.