ROKEYA SULTANA
Rokeya Sultana’s practice is distinguished by its dynamic engagement with mythology, femininity, and the psychological dimensions of human experience. Working across printmaking, painting, and mixed media, she combines intricate linework with expressive color and symbolic imagery to construct narratives that oscillate between memory, folklore, and contemporary reality. Her recurring motifs of women, birds, animals, and hybrid forms evoke themes of identity, transformation, and resilience, positioning her work at the intersection of personal introspection and collective cultural consciousness.
Born in Chattogram in 1958, Rokeya Sultana studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka, where she specialized in printmaking. She later pursued advanced education in Visva Bharati University in Shantiniketan, India, expanding her technical expertise while refining a distinctive visual language rooted in both South Asian traditions and contemporary graphic practices. Over the course of her career, she has established herself as one of Bangladesh’s leading printmakers, with a practice that bridges technical mastery and poetic imagination.
Rokeya Sultana has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated extensively in group exhibitions across Bangladesh and internationally, including presentations in Japan, India, the United Kingdom, France, Poland, China, and the United States. Her works have been featured in major biennales, triennales, and international print exhibitions, earning recognition for their originality and conceptual depth.
Her works are held in significant public and private collections in Bangladesh and abroad, including museums, cultural institutions, and corporate collections. Through her sustained exploration of nature, gender, and memory, Rokeya Sultana has made a lasting contribution to the development of contemporary printmaking and visual art in Bangladesh.
Major Accolades:
Best Award in Printmaking, National Young Artist Art Exhibition (1985)
Purchase Award, Somerstown Gallery Biennale, NY, US (1992)
Grand Prize, 3rd Bharat Bhaban Print Biennale, India (1995)
Bengal Foundation Award, National Art Exhibition (1999)
Bangladesh Charushilpi Sangsad Biennale Award, Bangladsesh (2000)
Shilpakala Academy Award, Bangladesh National Art Exhibition (2002)
French Government Scholarship, L’Atelier Lacouriere et Frelaut (2003)
Fullbright Research Award, University of Nebrasaka, Lincoln, USA (2012)
Indira International Imprint Art Festival Award, India (2017)
Ekushey Padak, Govt. of Bangladesh (2025)
