Criminal Neglect

Few other people like Bangladeshis claim how respectful they are of the past and show no regard for it in real life. This is true about every aspect of our life from mementoes’ and memories of our liberation to ancient historical artifacts. So however, painful it may sound we should not be shocked that we have shown near criminal neglect of the paintings of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin hosted at the Memorial Museum in Mymensingh.

- Afsan Chowdhury

Set up years back, it is in such a sorry state of neglect that many are alarmed if it will survive even a few paltry years. The National Museum Trustee Board Chairman and artist Hashem Khan has said that such “Artworks cannot survive in the conditions present in the galleries”. The museum on the banks of the Brahmaputra River was inaugurated on Pahela Boishakh in 1975. Zainul Abedin passed away less than a year later.

Zainul Abedin Museum was managed by the Mymensingh district administration until 2000, when it came directly under the purview of the National Museum.

But the state of disregard and lack of care is such that several paintings and artworks have been stolen from the museum. Meanwhile due to neglect many of the paintings have been nearly ruined. Mould and rains are heavily affecting them. The situation has improved since the National Museum took over, but the condition of some rooms in the museum remains deplorable.

The state of the museum and memorial