Celebrating the power of creative expression in healing through art on the occasion of International Women's Day, Gallery Cosmos showcased a unique, interactive segment titled “Art Therapy through Printmaking” featuring eminent artist Prof Rokeya Sultana at Dhaka Flow's “Inspire Her Wellness” festival.

Held on March 8-9 at the Baridhara Society Lakeside Park in Dhaka, the printmaking session and workshop at the Creative Playground for the attendees stood out at the festival.

From 11:30 am till the prayer break on Friday, the segment captivated people from all walks of life, in front of the Gallery Cosmos pavilion at the festival.

The influx of crowd continued on Saturday from 11 am though afternoon, as many festival-goers returned on day two after being enamored with the magic of printmaking by the maestro on the inaugural day.

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"Printmaking is a unique and extensive artistic process, which we brought outside of our regular studio setting in this lovely spring atmosphere, organised by Gallery Cosmos — inside the beautiful setting of Dhaka Flow's ‘Inspire Her Wellness’ festival," artist and art educator Rokeya Sultana said.

For this segment, Gallery Cosmos not only brought Rokeya Sultana who is a pioneering artist and maestro of this genre, it also brought and temporarily installed its majestic printmaking machine, which became a centre of attraction to the participants. 

Over the course of two days, more than a hundred prints were created at this inclusive segment. While children were the primary participants, festival-goers of all ages and families enthusiastically participated in the sessions and printed as they wished. 

Mentioning the enthusiastic response of the attendees, Rokeya Sultana said, "Gallery Cosmos organised a truly engaging printmaking segment at this magnificent festival, where the enthusiastic response wholeheartedly amazed me. These participants are not artists, yet they beautifully channelled their creative expressions to the prints, making beautiful art pieces."

"The festival is arranged marking the International Women's Day, and we need to celebrate the occasion through meaningful events like this. Every day, the world and people make us realize that we are women, through various actions and attributions. We need unity in our society, and events like this festival can make us united, while segments like this can act as the much-needed creative therapy for our wellbeing," the artist said. 

Apart from Rokeya Sultana, young artist Surovi Akter joined Gallery Cosmos pavilion as a caricature artist. It also became a center of attraction for festival-goers, and many of them commissioned caricature portraits of themselves, their children and loved ones at the festival.

"The response has been amazing throughout these two days," Surovi stated. "I have previously worked with Gallery Cosmos on festive occasions and events, each time my experience surpasses the previous ones."

Besides, the Gallery Cosmos pavilion featured 20 promising young visual artists and printmakers, showcasing a total of 35 artworks as part of its ongoing commitment to promote the country’s emerging talent by highlighting the work of these talented female artists. The hall of fame wall of these artworks has been another major attraction at the festival, while book enthusiasts and ardent readers purchased several of the unique publications of Cosmos Books at the pavilion. 

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The pioneering woman entrepreneur behind the Gallery Cosmos pavilion is Nahar Khan, a writer, curator, and patron of the arts who is currently serving as the Executive Director at Gallery Cosmos and the Cosmos Foundation. In addition, Nahar Khan also currently serves as Director at United News of Bangladesh (UNB) and Vice President of the Cosmos Group. 

An enthusiast of Arts and Culture who is keen on working towards inclusive curatorial practices and curatorial activism to challenge assumptions, hegemony, and heterocentrism while sparking meaningful discourse around social, racial, and political issues, Nahar Khan is especially devoted to the cultural and historical exchanges between communities.

Gallery Cosmos garnered widespread recognition from the international creative community for many of its artistic endeavours. Among these endeavours was the series of intellectual and artistic interventions for “The Black Story” project, an interactive virtual exhibition conceived and curated by Nahar Khan during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She also works with differently-abled children in the art space and holds several art events and workshops for them, alongside the regular artistic ventures of the gallery in order to foster the country’s glorious art and culture.