Bangladesh is highly indebted to its pioneering art maestros, who are the reason that today's world is now recognizing the arts and artists of the country with respect and honour. Maestros such as Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hassan and Sheikh Mohammed Sultan, popularly known as SM Sultan, truly elevated the country's art with pride and earned worldwide respect with their artistic brilliance. Often widely considered the most unique Bangladeshi artist of his timeline in terms of many aspects, SM Sultan created a lasting impression in the country's art scene and left many admirers who still remember the revered artist with utmost respect for his artistic brilliance. This year marks the 99th birth anniversary of this legendary artist and painter, who was born at the Machimdia village in the country's Narail Sadar upazila on August 10, 1924.

Many of Sultan's paintings are themed on nature and the rural landscape, and he is well known for his canvases populated with robust male and female peasants. His watercolour paintings, predominantly landscapes, are bright and lively, with vivid descriptions of Bengali rural culture and lifestyle. His paintings never included urban elements or anything produced by modern technology, according to art historians.

Eminent Bangladeshi photographer-writer and cultural personality Nasir Ali Mamun was fortunate to observe the life and works of the revered artist very closely, and he published a book titled 'Guru' in 2005, with 68 photographs of Sultan. These were selected from thousands of photographs taken by Mamun in the period from 1978, from the period he first met with SM Sultan to his death on October 10, 1994. Not only Mamun but also a handful of other eminent artists and cultural personalities have also been moved and influenced by the works of SM Sultan, and his upcoming birth centenary deserves to get a proper and befitting celebration.

Keeping that in mind, Nasir Ali Mamun alongside eminent Bangladeshi artists Shahabuddin Ahmed, and Monirul Islam, and a handful team of 400 intellectual personalities are gearing up to celebrate the upcoming birth centenary of the artist, as they have recently announced the 'SM Sultan National and International Birth Centenary Celebration Committee''. In a recent exclusive interview with Dhaka Courier at the Gallery Cosmos, the eminent photojournalist elaborated the vision and plans behind the celebration.

"Artist SM Sultan, our pride - was born in Machimdia village on the banks of the Chitra River in the Narail district of Bangladesh on August 10, 1924 (according to the artist's own account). We are going to celebrate the birth centenary of SM Sultan, the artist of Bangladesh, the artist of our own - with a grand scheme of upcoming events," Nasir Ali Mamun told DC.

On Sultan's legacy as the pioneering Bangladeshi artist:

"SM Sultan introduced Bangladeshi painting to Western countries, especially Europe and America. We know that in the early 1950s', SM Sultan toured several cities in the US, London and Europe. Not only did he travel - his photographs and paintings were exhibited alongside the works of world-renowned painters including Picasso, Salvador Dali and other eminent artists, and he held several solo exhibitions in various American cities and in London. We know about those exhibitions through evaluating the history, and then he travelled all over India. In 1946, he held his first solo exhibition in Shimla, India - and the journey continues."

Reasons behind the 'SM Sultan National and International Birth Centenary Celebration Committee':

"SM Sultan was already a legend at the age of 21, as much as we know about him; but much about his life and works is still unknown to us. As we celebrate SM Sultan's birth centenary, we invite eminent people from various fields - painters, art critics, students, intellectuals, cultural figures, poets, writers, and journalists - especially those admirers, who support SM Sultan and love his philosophy. We have constituted 'The SM Sultan National and International Birth Centenary Celebration Committee' that we announced on 24th August this year, through various print and electronic media. In this committee, we got our Spain-based famous painter Monirul Islam as the convenor of this centenary committee, and world-renowned painter Shahabuddin Ahmed is with us on this mission as the chief advisor. I, Nasir Ali Mamun, will be associated as the member secretary of this committee, and we have 400 honourable members on our list."

The plans for the two-years-long birth centenary projects:

"We are yet to organize any event specifically for SM Sultan's birth centenary, but we are going to organize many events very soon. These include art exhibitions and photography exhibitions, seminars, symposiums, workshops and SM Sultan Memorial Lectures, where prominent people from the community who have researched SM Sultan's philosophy and life and who have written about him at various times, will be the speakers. We will document these lectures in print versions, and later publish them as books. Also, we are going to publish books on various topics of SM Sultan, his artworks, and his philosophy. We have already published four books. I have edited these four books by myself.

I believe that texts, research papers and articles on SM Sultan must be documented for our future generations and those who are enthusiastic, who will discuss him in the future - because we all want SM Sultan to continue to be researched, admired and practised in Bangladesh - and our future generations are indeed very enthusiastic about SM Sultan, as per my research and understanding."

The associates in this mission:

"For SM Sultan's birth centenary, we initially talked to many organizations, among which - Bangla Academy, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh National Museum, Cosmos Foundation, Bengal Foundation, Alliance Française de Dhaka, Pathak Samabesh and several other organizations who already have been working on SM Sultan for years now, and they have provided us enthusiastic response regarding the celebration projects for his birth centenary. The main celebrations of this birth centenary will begin very soon, and we are going to organize these celebrations for the next two years - which will conclude on August 10, 2025."

"SM Sultan became a legend during his lifetime - not after his death. Even after his demise, his popularity is still enviable. We will celebrate, honour and celebrate such an artist in many different ways with a handful of projects and activities," Nasir Ali Mamun told DC.