Featuring three of the leading female artists in Bangladesh, an online art camp titled ‘Strokes Against Violence’, organised by Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka was virtually held on Wednesday - marking the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence which reflected on the necessity of mass awareness regarding the issue. Noted painter Afroza Jamil Konka, eminent indigenous artist Kanak Chanpa Chakma and leading performance artist Nazia Andaleeb Preema showcased their mesmerising crafts based on the topic of violence against women at the event, which was moderated by Zonta’s Advocacy Chairperson Tootli Rahman and also joined by Dr Simeen M Akhter, President of Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka. News agency United News of Bangladesh (UNB) was the media partner of the camp, while Gallery Cosmos was the gallery partner. “I’ve been painting women for a long time. When I was at a very tender age, I saw my mother struggling to raise her four daughters as the situation was very hard for her in the male dominated society. I closely saw her joys and sorrows and she was very joyful when she used to be with us, to make us feel happy. Those things encouraged me to paint women and all their emotions,” painter Afroza Jamil Konka, the inaugural artist of the camp, shared her thoughts behind drawing paintings of women. Answering a question on why she thinks child marriage should be banned, Konka said, “I draw a lot of paintings on child marriage as I think it’s the root of all the violence against us, women. A little girl, when she is supposed to go to school and explore, enjoy and learn about life - society pushes her to do something which she is neither capable of nor ready to take over. A healthy and educated mother is a blessing for our society, and that can only be assured if we can stop child marriages.”

Gallery Cosmos is going to organise the first-ever online live art camp on June 8 in association with 'Hidden Her Foundation' and Cosmos Foundation to raise funds for coronavirus victims. With the theme ’Brightening The Spirits With Art’, the art camp is going to portray six of the most renowned Bangladeshi artists who will go live from 11am to 5pm through video calling app ‘Zoom’ on the Gallery Cosmos Page on Facebook - all at the same time but from their own studios. The six art maestro of the country - Mustafa Monwar, Biren Shome, Mohammad Eunus, Kanak Champa Chakma, Anisuzzaman Anis and Bishwajit Goswami - will create two paintings each. They will also talk about their paintings, current situation, social awareness and other art-related topics. Moderators will host the events on behalf of the Gallery. Cosmos Foundation and Sunehra Z Islam, Founder, Hidden Her Foundation will complete further procedures going forward with selling the artworks in order to raise funds for those affected by the pandemic. “At a time when the entire world is literally captive at the hands of a pandemic, Gallery Cosmos, in association with Hidden Her Foundation & Cosmos Foundation, is set to break barriers with the country‘s first-ever online, or virtual art camp, taking advantage of the technological advances at our disposal,” artist Sourav Chowdhury, Executive Artistic Manager of Gallery Cosmos and Cosmos Atelier71, told UNB.