Hamiduzzaman Khan

Khan was born in 1946 in the village Sahasram in Kishoreganj. Indian artist Hemen Majumdar hailed from Gachihata, a neighbouring village of Sahasram. Khan used to visit his house as a young boy. His early education was in his native village schools and he completed matriculation in 1962. He then got admitted in the erstwhile East Pakistan College of Arts and Crafts (now Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka). At the College of Arts and Crafts, he studied under the guidance of artists Zainul Abedin, Safiuddin Ahmed, Aminul Islam, and Mustafa Manwar. Zainul Abedin appreciated and encouraged Khan for his watercolour paintings. While he was a third-year student, Abedin presented one of Khan's paintings to the President of Burma, Ne Win, during his visit to the art college. Khan was particularly fascinated by modern abstract forms in sculpture, large scale application of sculpture in enhancing the aesthetic quality of urban landscape and its impact in civic life. Sculptures installed in public spaces in Montmartre, Montparnasse and a solo exhibition of Alberto Giacometti had a lasting impact in his mind. On his return to Dhaka in 1969, Khan decided to specialize in sculpture and requested Abdur Razzaque to teach him sculpture. He worked with Razzaque for six months. Studies in India and the United States Khan was awarded an Indian Government scholarship in 1974 to study for a Master of Fine Arts degree. He then went on to study at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, earning his master's degree in bronze casting in 1976. Mahendra Pandia, Sankho Chaudhuri, and K. G. Subramanyan. During his stay in Baroda as a student, he participated in the exhibition commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Baroda. His works included two sculptures made of bronze and one made of plaster—all depicting the terrible experiences of the Bangladesh War of Liberation. Khan was praised by artist M. F. Husain In 1983, the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington D.C. organized a solo exhibition of Khan with the sculptures he made during his stay in New York City. ==Career==

Prior to focusing on sculpture, Khan supplemented his income through watercolour paintings. When he was a student in the Institute of Fine Arts, the then principal of the institute Zainul Abedin bought Khan's paintings. An exhibition with his watercolour paintings, done in the period from 1963 to 1969, was held in Chittagong Club in 1969. All the paintings from the exhibition were sold to Chittagong Club and, the earning helped him for his treatment abroad. In 1982, the World Bank bought three of his paintings for interior decoration of the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C. He participated in 6th Triennial Art Exhibition in New Delhi, organized by Lalit Kala Akademi in 1986, as an official entrant from Bangladesh. He organized a solo sculpture exhibition at the Alliance Française de Dhaka in 1987. Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy awarded him the Best Sculptor's Award for his work at the National Sculpture Exhibition in 1987. In 1988, his sculpture on the liberation war theme titled Jagrotobangla (The Vigilant Bangla) was installed at the Zia Fertilizer Factory in Ashuganj, Brahmanbaria. It was made of reinforced concrete and marble, symbolizing the hand of a freedom fighter with a rifle. Khan received his first major international recognition when he was invited by the Olympic Committee in Seoul, Republic of Korea in 1988 to install an open-air sculpture at the Seoul Olympic Park. The sculpture is titled Steps, made of welded copper with a height of 13 feet. It symbolizes steps to freedom and progress. In 1990, he received a commission from Jahangirnagar University to install a sculpture in front of the Central Library of the university. The title of the sculpture was Shangshaptak. Made of steel armature and brass steel, it depicts a freedom fighter, having an amputated leg and an amputated hand, charging ahead fearlessly. This remains one of Khan's best-known works. The figure has later been recast in modified form and in different media to be placed at different locations in Bangladesh. The most prominent one of these is the sculpture titled Freedom Fighter, made with stainless steel pipe which was installed in 2003 at the entrance of UTC Building located in Panthapath, Dhaka. He was invited at the Puyo International Modern Sculpture Symposium in Korea in 1999. For this symposium, he created a 10-feet high sculpture in steel sheet which was exhibited at the Puyo Bodrek Park. He created a sculpture, titled Muktijoddha (The Freedom Fighter) for the Mymensingh Cantonment in 1999. In 2011, he was commissioned by Bangladesh Bank to install a sculpture at the premises of Bangladesh Bank headquarters in Motijheel. The work is titled Unity. It is a 32-feet stainless steel sculpture, featuring two hands in abstract form holding together a globe. Khan retired from the University of Dhaka in 2012. He continued to teach sculpture at several universities in Dhaka. Stretching over 5 acres of land inside the premises of the Summit Gazipur 464 MW power plant, the park displays sculptures on diverse themes and media. The park contains 19 sculptures on different themes including folk-culture, the Bangladesh War of Liberation, birds, faces, and figures, and pays tribute to the Bangla language, diversity, and other themes. He employed metal, stone, granite, steel-wire, and cement in his creations. The park also boasts the longest mural in Bangladesh. The mural, titled Srom O Srishti, (meaning Labour and Creation) with a length of 340 feet, symbolizes a fusion between labour and creation, and highlights the importance of electricity in modern civilisation. It captures the various forms of turbine, wheel, cogs, and other industrial equipment in motion. As the park is inside power plant premises, Khan incorporated scientific aspects, apart from artistic depictions of subjects. A book was published on June 2022, titled "Hamiduzzaman Sculpture Park". ==Style==

Khan's sculptural practice engaged with ideas concerning Bangladesh War of Liberation, birds, human face, human figure and natural objects, binding together personal experiences, and historical references. The majority of Khan's sculptures were made of bronze and steel. He also worked with stone, aluminium, white granite, marble, and mixed-media. His large-scale sculptures were mostly made of concrete and bronze. Though majority of his early sculptures were built in the expressionist style, his works after 2000 reflected minimalism with constant exploration for purity of forms and material. The composition of his sculptures is characterized by architectural and geometric shapes. The war remembrance theme continued in Khan through 1985 till 1988, in different styles. In the mid-1980s he produced some faces and masks that depicted the tortured faces of the Bengali women. Many of his paintings bear sculptural attributes. ==Personal life and death==

Hamiduzzaman Khan married Ivy Zaman in 1976. Ivy Zaman graduated in sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka. She is an artist and sculptor by profession. They have two sons, Zubair Zaman Khan Copper and Zarif Hamiduzzaman. Hamiduzzaman Khan died from pneumonia and dengue fever on 20 July 2025, at the age of 79. ==Exhibitions==

Solo • An Indigenous Minimalist, Bengal Gallery of Fine Art, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2002). • Homage to Matter, The British Council, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2006). • Recent Sculpture and Other Works, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2006). • The Intimate World of Colour, Gallery of Fine Art, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2008). • Nocturnal Shades, Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2010). • Time and Beyond, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2010). • Watercolours & Sculptures, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2012). • Earthly Treasures, Athena Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2014). • Stones, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2014). • Stones-2, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2016). • Of Watercolours, Boats and Faces, Shilpangan Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2016). • Jiban Annashane, Institute of Architects Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2017). • Hamiduzzaman Khan Retrospective, Nalinikanta Bhattashali Gallery, Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2017). • Nocurnal Shades, Abinta Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2018). • Feeling the Void, Dwip Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2019). Group • World Invitational Open-air Sculpture Exhibition, Seoul Olympic Park, Seoul, Republic of Korea, (1988). • Soft Reflections, Gallery Cosmos, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2015). • Manobotar Pokkhe Sahingsotar Biruddhe Chitrakarma, Gallery Cosmos, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2015). • 11th Anniversary Exhibition by Galleri Kaya, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2015). • Brave Heart, Gallery Cosmos, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2015). • 13th Anniversary Exhibition by Galleri Kaya, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2017). • Jolokabbo, Edge Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2017). • Contemporary and Modern Art of Bangladesh, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2017). • Fourth National Sculpture Exhibition, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2018). • 14th Anniversary Exhibition by Galleri Kaya, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2018). • Still Life 2018, Gallery Chitrak, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2018). • Bangladesh-Nepal Friendship Fine Arts Exhibition-2018, Park Gallery, Lalitpur, Nepal (2018). • Soaked in Paper, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2019). • Festival of Fine Art, Zainul Gallery, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2019). • 15th Anniversary Exhibition by Galleri Kaya, Galleri Kaya, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2019). • Prologue 01, Dhaka Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2019). • Group Watercolour Exhibition, Zainul Gallery, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2020). ==Awards==

• Best Sculptor's Award by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, (1976). ==Gallery==

Shantir Paira sculpture at TSC DU (3).jpg|The sculpture " Shantir Paira" (means Dove of Peace ) in front of TSC of Dhaka University made by Sculptor Hamiduzzaman Khan. (Photo of November 2018) Sculpture Life & The Lifeless 2019.jpg|Sculpture "Life and the Lifeless" Longest Mural in Bangladesh 2019.jpg| Mural "Srom O Sristi" == References ==