Artist Sujon Mahabub, who won the best award in the Performance Art category at 23rd National Young Artist Art Exhibition, said that steps should be taken to establish institutions for teaching performance art in the country.

‘Performance art helps artists to get closer to the audience. In India, aspiring artists can go to institutions to learn performance art. However, there are no such institutions in Bangladesh. The authority concerned in Bangladesh should take steps to establish institutions where young Bangladeshi artistes will be able to learn performance art,’ said Sujon Mahabub.

He bagged the award for his performance art titled Nijer Charkay Tel Dei. It talks about self-importance and motivation.

‘We often come across words from people that motivate and inspire us. However, it is up to us to motivate ourselves. We can inspire ourselves by mustering up the motivation to achieve our goals,’ Sujon informed.

Sujon Mahabub got into theatre in his childhood days and started his art career at the Narayanganj Fine Arts School. He trained in painting and graphic design. He also completed his post-graduation from the University of Development Alternative.

‘From 2009 till 2011, I have participated in performance art organised by the University of Dhaka’s Faculty of Fine Arts titled History Chain. I also regularly participated in the performance art marking International Mother Language Day. My teacher artist Sanjay Chakrabarty played an important role in guiding me during my journey,’ mentioned Sujon, who has explored the relationship between modern humans and time in a five-part series titled Man the Slave of Time.

‘Our everyday activities are dictated by time. It feels like we have been enslaved by the idea of time. I have created a five-part series under the title Man the Slave of Time that depicts how time is controlling every aspect of our life,’ he said.

Sujon Mahabub had the opportunity of performing at the Great Wall of China in 2019.

‘I presented a performance art at the Great Wall of China. The performance was organised by a platform titled Shilpita Bangladesh,’ said Sujon, who usually performs under the stage name Bhashane Ujan.

‘I hail from Monpura Island. The people of my locality have to go upstream in search of a livelihood so I think that the name Bhashane Ujan suits me,’ he informed.

Sujon said that Bangladeshi performance artists should be given the opportunity to stage performance art in public freely.

‘Artists appear in the public suddenly and stage performance art in other countries. However, we have to seek permission from different authorities before we can stage a performance art in Bangladesh. It would be better if artists could stage performance art freely,’ he concluded.