Post Colonial Approaches Reflected in the Works of Bangladeshi Female Artists

Post colonialism is a modern phenomenon; a much talked about one in the art circle especially since the 1960’s. Co-incidentally, the journey of Bangladeshi women painters also started during the same time-frame. It is obvious that aspects of decolonization are Omni-present in the works of the active women artists of Bangladesh. It is reflected in their choice of themes, images, and symbols that do not imitate colonial approaches, influencing the academic art of Bangladesh since the eighteenth century. This paper is an attempt to find out how this change took place, why especially the women artists have played a more active role in formulating a new vocabulary to counter the euro-centrism that was and is so strongly present in the art circle here. In doing so, mainly the exhibition catalogues of the major events are analyzed with the help of interviews with the artists themselves.