During his lifetime, Kazi Nazrul Islam was a towering figure who championed equality, freedom, and justice. The spirit of his work is still felt today. Because many of the topics he wrote about remain crucial to modern society, he is incredibly relevant today.

As we recognize the importance of Kazi Nazrul Islam today, it is encouraging to know that organizations such as Chhayanat (Kolkata) have been diligently promoting the poet’s life and works for the past eighteen years. In Kolkata, India, Chhayanat is hosting a seven-day exhibition called Amare Debo Na Bhulite in honor of the poet’s 127th birthday.

The collections of renowned collectors from Bangladesh and India will be on display at the Somerita Mallik-curated exhibition.

The collection of renowned Nazrul-Sangeet exponent Satya Chowdhury’s nephew, Paramananda Chowdhury, will be on display, and gramophone recordings of the poet reciting poetry and singing songs will be played. At the same time, Eeshita Basu Roy’s collection of rare gramophone records and cassettes featuring Nazrul songs and poetry performed by renowned performers will be on display.

The signature of Kazi Nazrul Islam from the collection of well-known Kolkata autograph collector Moloy Sarkar will be on exhibit. Late Aloke Mitra’s photographs will be on display. There will also be several rare photos of Nazrul from Shahadat Parvez’s collection in Bangladesh. Ashek Mia, Gautam Banerjee, and Swagata Gupta’s collections will also be on display.

The second edition of Nazrul’s poetry book Agnibeena, a unique Nazrul issue of BetarJagat, postage stamps, and other rare items will be part of Falguni Datta Roy’s collection. Nazrul was linked to movies like Chowringhee, Gora, Sapure, and Vidyapati. There will also be booklets from these movies on display.

Thanks to Souvik Roy of Kolkata, admirers of Kazi Nazrul Islam will have the opportunity to view postage stamps featuring the poet that have been issued in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. On the 90th anniversary of the poem Bidrohi, Sekhar Dey will showcase a unique commemorative coin that was minted in Bangladesh. The exhibition will be enhanced by unique matchboxes created by Bangladeshi collector Shakil Huq. Visitors will have the opportunity to view numerous rare artifacts and the first edition of Nazrul’s book Chokher Chatak in Apratim Basu’s collection.

There will also be portraits of Nazrul painted by renowned artists from Bangladesh and India, such as Wasim Kapoor, Bappa Bhowmick, and Subrata Kar. Coffee artist Partha Mukherjee will use coffee to create a portrait of Nazrul during the exhibition. Nazrul will be portrayed on ceramic plates produced in Bangladesh as part of Souvik Roy’s collection. Additionally, Nazrul will be depicted in a variety of imaginative ways, such as Moutushi Ghosh’s alpana and Subir Biswas’s late-stone artwork. Nazrul fans will also be drawn to the gallery every day by live paintings created by artists from Aarshi Kolkata under Sumit Guha.

Twenty-one books from the collection of eminent Nazrul researcher Emdadul Haq Noor will be on display. On the centennial of the poem Bidrohi, the books were released in both Bengals. Somerita Mallik, a Nazrul researcher and president of Chhayanat (Kolkata), will showcase her collection, which includes postage stamps, rare Nazrul-specific magazine issues, and gramophone records. Additionally, a special book from Somerita Mallik’s collection that was published during Nazrul’s birth centennial by Searsole Raj High School (Raniganj), where Nazrul studied, will be on display. There will also be newspapers covering the poet’s passing, such as Jugantar’s August 30, 1976 issue.

The exhibition will start at 5:30 p.m. on 23^rd May at the Sunayani Art Gallery and Chittaprasad Gallery of the Jogen Chowdhury Centre for Arts (Kolkata) and will continue till 30^th May. It will be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Priyanka Dutta