Artist Monjur Rashid's week-long second solo exhibition, titled "Narrative of Time" was held at the La Galerie of Alliance Francaise de Dhaka from June 26-July 3.

Renowned artist Monirul Islam graced the inauguration event as chief guest, while eminent photographer Nasir Ali Mamun, Professor Gazi MA Salam, Founder and Managing Director, ISTT and Dr Rashid Amin, Associate Professor, Department of Fine Arts, Jagannath University, were also present as special guests.

Monjur Rashid has been working as a freelance artist after earning a master's in fine arts at University of Development Alternative (UODA). He started working with experimental mediums and after that he looked into working on mediums like bottles and umbrellas. He has received accolades from a number of organisations and has attended more than fifty group exhibitions in home and abroad. Monjur had his first solo exhibition at Alliance Française de Dhaka in 2014 titled, Searching Myself.

His second solo featured 36 paintings, consisting of a series of paintings demonstrating his command of portraiture. The artist uses geometry to narrate stories in his artworks. Most of the time he establishes a center character of the story then he weaves the canvas with surrounding elements. In Rashid's work, portraits are not always human faces. Often he chooses the theme of nature and presents it beautifully in his canvas.

Human faces, limbs, flowers and birds are central in Monjur's works. Depicting different human facial expressions and limbs, the painter presents the trauma of the victims of the wars and racial conflicts going on in different parts of the world.

He has also urged for peace symbolically depicting the beautiful images of flowers and birds.

The signature painting of the show titled 'Narrative of Time' depicts the realistic image of a bird being captured by a human hand to deliver the message that the peace and freedom of the common people have been disrupted by the powerful quarters.

One of the paintings, Syria Crisis, shows the pale face of a frightened girl on the background of guns, rockets and tanks.

Monjur has also touched the struggles of the marginalised and working people in the Story Teller series. The eye arresting paintings under the series present some emotionless pale faces of hardworking men and women.

His urge for peace has been expressed in two series: The Innocent and Well Wishes.

Rashid wished well for all in the spectacular watercolour paintings under his Well Wishes series, which depict images of different colourful flowers.