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Visitors at the exhibition in the US (top), bead jewellery by Papaa (left) |
“Beauty and the Beads”, exhibition by Bangladeshi artist Nurun Nahar Papaa, was recently held at USA. This was at the 'Out of the Blue' Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
This was Papaa's second bead jewellery exhibition; the first being a weeklong exhibition at Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka, in February, this year.
The exhibition drew large crowds who greatly admired the pristine designs of the jewellery on display. These contained Sub-continental motifs and also combined European gypsy designs with West African ones. There is thus a fusion of far-flung designs of the east and west in her work. Her bead jewellery has won wide acclaim both nationally and internationally.
Jewellery has been Papaa's passion since childhood, when her father gave her some Sindhi beaded necklace. She has done many courses on beads, such as 'African Zulu' and 'Native American' specialities. She has studied with Martha Forsythe and Eve Peterson. She teams with scores of workers who help her with her bead work since 2005.
A painter and mural designer, Papaa has a number of solos and joint exhibitions to her credit in Bangladesh and overseas. Her paintings are included in the permanent collections at the Bangladesh National Museum and Bangladesh Parliament.