Shawdesh desk:

A weeklong solo exhibition of driftwood artworks of sculptor Akhtar Ahmed Rasha highlighting Bangladesh’s Liberation War, women’s empowerment, and nature began at Safiuddin Shilpalay in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi on Thursday.

Cultural personality and lawmaker Asaduzzaman Noor inaugurated the exhibition organised by Studio Vertical, according to a press release.

The exhibition titled “Drifting to the Root, Drifting to Love” is the first exhibition in the country by Rasha, an expatriate sculptor who employs natural materials like branches, roots, and trunks to craft found object art.

He earlier joined a number of solo and group exhibitions in New Jersey, New York, and Washington, DC, the US, said the release.

“I’ve tried to give expression to my experience of life in Bangladesh, and the process started with scavenging driftwood on beaches along the Atlantic coast. I am happy that I’ve focused on the Liberation War, especially for friends of Bangladesh abroad,” said the artist.

As many as 53 artworks have been put on display at the exhibition, which will remain open to the public between 11:00 am and 7:00 pm every day until September 13.

Art collector Abul Khair Litu, among others, addressed the inaugural ceremony chaired by Professor Nisar Hossain, dean at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University.