Mustafa Monwar (born 1 September 1935) is a Bangladeshi artist. He is a painter, sculptor, radio performer and professor of fine arts. He was awarded

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

in 2004 by the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

Early life

Monwar is the son of poet Golam Mostofa. He passed his matriculation exam from Narayanganj Government High School. He was also a student of

Dhaka Collegiate school Dhaka Collegiate School is a secondary school in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest schools in Bangladesh. The students of collegiate school are called Collegiatian. History The school was established in Dhaka on 21 June 1835 as Dhaka E ...

.He was initially admitted to the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in Asia. ...

of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

where he studied science. Following the advice of the author

Syed Mujtaba Ali Syed Mujtaba Ali (, ; 13 September 1904 – 11 February 1974) was a Bengali writer, journalist, travel enthusiast, academic, scholar and linguist. He lived in Bangladesh, India, Germany, Afghanistan and Egypt. Early life and education Syed Mujt ...

, he transferred to the

Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata The Government College of Art & Craft (GCAC) in Kolkata is one of the oldest Art colleges in India. It was founded on August 16, 1854 at Garanhata, Chitpur, "with the purpose of establishing an institution for teaching the youth of all classe ...

from where he graduated obtaining best result in his class.

Career

Monwar started his career as a lecturer at the East Pakistan College of Arts and Crafts. Later, he joined the

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

branch of PTV (now

Bangladesh Television Bangladesh Television (), commonly known by its acronym BTV (), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East Pakistan branch of Pakistan Television Corporation, Pakistan Television in 1 ...

), as director general. Later he became the director general of the

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (; ) or simply known as Shilpakala Academy is the principal state-sponsored national cultural centre of Bangladesh. It is a academy of fine and performing arts. History It is the national academy of fine and pe ...

and the National Media Institute. He also served as a managing director of the FDC.

Works

During the

liberation war of Bangladesh The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

in 1971, he organized

puppet shows Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...

at the refugee camps in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. His created puppet plays like ''Agachha'' (Weed), ''Rakkhash'' (Monster) and ''A Brave Farmer''. He was known as the "Puppet Man of Bangladesh". American documentary filmmaker Lear Levin visited Bangladesh to make a film on his puppets. These scenes were later added to

Tareque Masud Tareque Masud (6 December 1956 – 13 August 2011) was a Bangladeshi independent film director, film producer, screenwriter and lyricist. He first found success with the films ''Muktir Gaan'' (1995) and '' Matir Moina'' (2002), for which he won t ...

's film ''

Muktir Gaan ''Muktir Gaan'' (; ''The Song of Freedom'') is a 1995 Bangladeshi documentary film by Tareque Masud and his wife Catherine Masud. It explores the impact of cultural identity on the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, where music and songs provid ...

'' (1995). Monwar's television puppet show ''Moner Kotha'' ran on BTV for 12 years. It tells the story of a little girl called Parul and her seven brothers named Champa who were cursed and turned into flowers. It is based on the folklore ''

Saat Bhai Champa Saat Bhai Champa (Bengali language, Bengali: সাত ভাই চম্পা, ''Sāt Bhāi Champā'') or Sat Bhai Chompa is a popular Folklore, folk tale in the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. The story was first ...

''. He runs Dhaka-based organization Educational Puppet Development Centre (EPDC). Monwar's teleplays include ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and ''Raktokorobi'' by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

. He showcased his own interpretations of

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

's The Nightingale, and

The Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" () is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. First Collection'', with three other tale ...

. He is the Bangladesh representative of the Denmark-based International Puppet Development Centre.

Personal life

Monwar has been married to Merry Monwar since 1965. Together they have one daughter, Nandini Monwar and one son, Sadat Monwar.

Awards

* All India Fine Arts Competition Award (1957) * Zainul Abedin Gold Medal *

(2004) * Anando Bichitra Award (2004) * The Daily Star and Standard Chartered Bank Lifetime Achievement Award Winner (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monwar, Mustafa 1935 births Living people People from Jessore District Bangladeshi painters Bangladeshi sculptors Bangladeshi puppeteers Scottish Church College alumni Government College of Art & Craft alumni University of Calcutta alumni Academic staff of the University of Dhaka Recipients of the Ekushey Padak in arts Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Meril-Prothom Alo Lifetime Achievement Award winners