Auntora Mehrukh Azad’s solo exhibition Solastalgia: Fading Horizon

Fragments of a fading horizon - Solo exhibition of Auntora Mehrukh Azad.

Dhaka, Oct 21 - Artist Auntora Mehrukh Azad’s maiden solo art exhibition titled ‘Solastalgia: Fragments of a Fading Horizon’ is currently underway at the gallery of Platforms by ISHO, in Pragati Sarani, Baridhara in the capital.

Inaugurated on Saturday, October 19, the exhibition delves into the personal and universal experiences of environmental change, as seen through the eyes of young and promising artist Auntora Mehrukh Azad, whose deep connection to Bangladesh's rivers and landscapes represents her work.

‘Solastalgia: Fragments of a Fading Horizon’ explores the impact of climate-induced flooding and the tension between rural and urban environments. Growing up in Dhaka, one of the most climate-vulnerable cities in the world, she witnessed the powerful relationship between the landscape and water.

Bangladesh’s geography, shaped by rivers and monsoons, is both a source of life and destruction. “A pivotal moment came in 2018, when I worked with flood-affected communities in Pakuria. Immersed in their lives, I began to see the landscape as one reshaped by human influence and negligence,” Auntora Mehrukh Azad reminisced about her journey behind the inspiration of this exhibition.

The neon pink waters in her work represent the unnatural, manmade elements of this crisis, exacerbated by climate change - a global issue that hits the most vulnerable hardest, according to the artist.

“From the Sundarbans to Dhaka’s dense urban fabric, Auntora’s works reflect the convergence of these worlds, blending internal emotions with external observations of a landscape reshaped by human activity and environmental crisis. Through the imagery of neon waters and floating islands, Auntora captures fragmented yet interconnected stories, reflecting the collective experiences of those on the margins of environmental disaster,” the exhibition’s curator Rayana Hossain, also the Founder and Managing Director of ISHO and Platforms, stated.

The exhibition has been arranged to showcase the shifting scales of these transitions. It moves from intimate depictions of flood-affected communities to broader, more abstract landscapes, highlighting the internal and external journey of displacement and environmental degradation. Each painting extends beyond the frame, symbolising the magnitude of the crisis—far too vast to be confined to canvas.

Auntora Mehrukh Azad is a visual artist whose work explores the evolving relationship between nature and urban life. Through an exaggerated and artificial colour palette, her paintings emphasise the gradual dominance of urbanisation over the natural world.

She earned both her MFA and BFA in Drawing and Painting from the Faculty of Fine Art, Dhaka University. Her work has been exhibited in prestigious group exhibitions and art camps globally, including the 2023 Dhaka Art Summit, the 2019 Yogyakarta International Art Festival in Indonesia, and the Global Women, Women’s Art Exhibition 2019 by the Maeying Chiang Rai Artist Group in Thailand.

She also participated in the 18th Asian Art Biennial Bangladesh in 2018, the 22nd National Art Exhibition in 2017, the Solo International Art Camp 2 in Indonesia, and Immensity, a student art project curated by Bishwajit Goswami at Abinta Gallery of Fine Arts in Dhaka, in 2018.

Her works are showcased in several prominent private and corporate collections, including the Samdani Art Foundation (2023), Bangladesh: Creative Density – Contemporary Art of the Golden Bengal, and the Imago Mundi: Luciano Benetton Collection (2016).

Initiated by Platforms, several artworks by three Bangladeshi artists – Auntora Mehrukh Azad, Fakhrul Islam Mazumder Shakil and Tariqul Islam Herok will be displayed at the upcoming Tokyo International Art Fair to be held on November 29-30 this year.

‘Solastalgia: Fragments of a Fading Horizon’ will be open for art enthusiasts, collectors and connoisseurs till November 16, daily from 11 am to 8 pm. - UNB