Sunflowers and beyond Witnessing CROSSROAD

By sheer stroke of chance, I stepped into the exhibition space of Galleri Kaya in Uttara and managed to take a quick look at the group art exhibition titled “CROSSROAD … not a project”.

Organised by Galleri Kaya and sponsored by ADN Group, it is an extraordinary presentation by 11 contemporary Bangladeshi artists.

What struck me immediately were the yellow canvases. From the very entrance, two enormous works -- A Drying Sunflower and A Fallen Sunflower -- rare displays of Sahid Kazi’s brilliance in oil, exerted a hypnotic pull with muted greens and luminous yellows. Turning left, Shahanoor Mamun’s monumental acrylics, Rhythm of the Reapers and Whispers of the Harvest, transfixed viewers with their golden glow.

Colour here was not just pigment, it was power. The brief, informal preview felt like stumbling into a magical loop, leaving me quietly exhilarated. Mamun explained:

“Harvest expresses the energy of the countryside; it is more than an agricultural act. It is a celebration of patience, resilience, and the enduring bond between people and nature. Through vibrant, impressionistic brushstrokes, the warmth of the sun radiates across the canvas, capturing the rhythm of labour and the gentle sweep of wind through ripened grain.” His words echoed the radiance of his canvases.

For me, yellow has always been a radiant colour: the sweep of sunflower fields, the layered gold of ripened paddy, the cheerful mustard blossoms, the soft calendula petals, the luminous Alamanda blooms. Even the smallest stroke of yellow paint feels like a fragment of sunlight caught and set free.

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PHOTOS: Galleri Kaya

Stepping deeper into the gallery, the mood shifted. Abdus Sattar Toufiq’s aqua greens and blues offset the yellows with bold variations of line and form, laying bare his inner landscape. Then came Azmeer Hossain’s boats, drifting in soft watercolour washes, merging with reflections of cloudy skies -- the fluid medium capturing the lush Bengal monsoon with striking ease.

Beyond the spell of yellow, Monjur Rashid’s acrylics Steadfast-1 and Mother elevated seemingly insignificant subjects -- hens and roosters -- into regal figures. Encountering his work for the first time, I admired its ease: free of heavy concepts, yet quietly majestic.

The exhibition brings together a dynamic group of Bangladeshi artists born between 1970 and 1989, straddling both Generation X and the Millennials. This carefully chosen group has played a pivotal role in shaping the contemporary art landscape of Bangladesh. The growing demand for their works -- driven by diverse trajectories of practice, thought, and visual language -- continues to draw the attention of collectors, compelling them to enrich their collections with creations of remarkable splendour and significance.

“This generation stands at a decisive intersection -- between tradition and experimentation, academic engagement and independent practice, locality and global discourse,” said Goutam Chakraborty, Director of Galleri Kaya. “Some continue as freelance practitioners, navigating exhibitions and commissions, while others contribute to institutional discourse, teaching at the University of Dhaka and shaping emerging artists while sustaining active studio practices.

“The title CROSSROAD … not a project suggests neither a fixed theme nor a prescribed curatorial framework. Rather, it acknowledges a moment -- an intersection of experiences, ideologies, and visual vocabularies. The exhibition resists being framed merely as a project; it is instead a confluence of practices that reflect personal histories, socio-political consciousness, material exploration, and evolving aesthetic languages.”

Featuring 46 works in ceramic, stoneware, brass, welded iron, oil, acrylic, gouache, mixed media, and watercolour on paper and canvas, the exhibition showcases creations by Abdus Sattar Toufiq, Ashim Halder Sagor, Azharul Islam Chanchal, Azmeer Hossain, Monjur Rashid, Nabaraj Roy, Shahanoor Mamun, Sahid Kazi, Shohag Parvez, Sushanta Kumar Adhikary, and Ekushey Padak 2026 recipient Tejosh Halder Josh.

Inaugurated by the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, HE Pranay Verma, the exhibition will remain open daily from 11:30am to 7:30pm until April 16, 2026 -- a luminous stop during the Pohela Boishakh break in Dhaka.

For further queries, visit Galleri Kaya’s Facebook page.