Tapestry, a form of textile art, is woven by hand on a perpendicular loom. It is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike cloth weaving where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible. In this way, a colourful pattern or image is created. Rashid Choudhury was the pioneer of this art in this country and definitely the finest artist of this particular genre till today. He successfully introduced tapestry in various forms. His works are unparalleled in their subjects and unique work. This great artist created a distinct path in our subcontinent.

Artist Tajul Islam as a student of art, started out in this field by assisting Chowdhury when the latter returned from France. Tajul continued assisting his guru till 1979. After the death of Rashid Chowdhury, Tajul is one of the very few to work in this elegant, expensive and arduous medium. He has been working in this medium for 50 years. Now Tajul has unfolded his creative wings and tried to carve an individual path in our competitive art field. He has flourished in this medium. Though the medium is very expensive and time consuming, he has been able to overcome these limitations with his immense effort and devotion. Tapestry is very slow selling but Tajul's enormous fervour and perseverance helps him to continue at this very knotty media.

Tajul's forte is to search for fresh themes and present them with a novel approach. This inclination has helped him to hold his position at the forefront of the Bangladeshi art scenario.

Tajul has been inspired by his teacher Chowdhury, and has proved his distinctiveness particularly in terms of design and colour composition. The thickness of colours, various geometric compositions and searching for aestheticism are frequently featured in his works. He concentrates on design rather than other angles. He continuously experiments on novel forms and mind-boggling shapes.

Tajul uses vibrant primary colours in the centre and dark colours like black and ash brown in the background to create a contrast of colours. In his recent creations, the artist has chosen to use azure, white, black, crimson, green and brown colours for the background. The artist is deeply inspired by varied organic forms, like growing vegetation, flowers and plants. Human figures occasionally feature in his work.

As a nature lover, Tajul tries to present synchronisation of colour in his works with great warmth and affection. He has used colours with vivid splendour to give a distinct message through his works, which for many years have been impressing colour aficionados both at home and abroad. Tajul's tapestries are lavish with various abstract images. But this abstraction does not hamper the viewers' perception of the artist's feelings and thoughts.

The exhibition will continue till November 23.