JU student gives life to Saint Martin with colours

The walls of Saint Martin Island comes alive with colours. Walls around this Island have been transformed into pieces of art by a JU student. His murals not only enhancing the beauty of the only coral reef island of Bangladesh but also have become a treat to the eyes of the visitors.  

 Abdullah Mamur, a student of fine arts from batch 42nd, Jahangirnagar University, along with some of his juniors named Samsuzzoha Sthir and others have given lives to this spectacular island, also known as ‘Narikel Zinzira’.

Most of these murals are based on movies and cartoons. This time he brings ‘Tintin’ to Saint Martin through his paintings. The adventures of Tintin is a series of 24 banded designee albums created by famous Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century.

Earlier, He took on the famous animated film ‘Song of the Sea’, painted on the walls of TSC (JU), found all the rage on Facebook for a couple of weeks. It was even shared by Tom Moore, the Irish film-maker who directed the movie. “This was a dream of mine from Childhood to colour the walls of different tourist spots of Bangladesh”, Abdullah Mamur told this correspondent recently.

“Thanks to Adnan Jubaid who has created the opportunity for me to materialize my dreams. For years, I have coloured the walls of my campus,” he added.

Abdullah Mamur along with his team, is a well-known figure at Jahangirnagar University too because of his extraordinary talents. They not only coloured outsides but also the walls inside their campus for years. Yes, the only residential University has become colourful through the murals painted by his team. The walls of this city of culture have become more cultured for murals, painted by him.

Earlier, He coloured around 40 murals across the walls of Jahangirnagar University. Its Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), Jucsu and faculty buildings, dormitories, passenger sheds and transport areas are being coloured by his team.

“When I first came to the university in 2013, I was saddened to see how almost every wall of the campus as well as every city was taken over by posters by political organisations, coaching centres, or some other kind of advertisement. I just wanted to replace the commercial features of the walls with colours from then”, he recalled.  

His first mural was self-funded, painted on the walls of the passenger shed at Chourangi, Jahangirnagar University. However, due to a shortage of funds, they were forced to halt their work after the first few. But financial crisis fails to stop him. Luckily, they got some donors, especially ex-JU students and well-wishers of the university, who came forward to pay for their paintings.

Writer: Mehdi Islam, Jahangirnagar University