Eminent sculptor Shamim Sikder passes away

Eminent Bangladeshi sculptor Shamim Sikder passed away on Tuesday at United Hospitals in the capital, aged 70.

She passed away at around 4:30pm, renowned art curator and ARTcon founder ARK Reepon told UNB.

The Ekushey Padak-winning sculptor was undergoing treatment and had long been suffering from various health complications. She was admitted to the hospital on 19 February and shifted to the CCU on 9 March.

Earlier, she was admitted to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases before getting admitted to the United Hospitals, after coming back home from the United Kingdom.

Her body will be taken to the Dhaka University Faculty of Fine Art premises on Wednesday at 11 am, Reepon told UNB.

Born on 22 October, 1952, in Faridpur, Sikder enrolled at the Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 15. At the age of 23, she moved to the Sir John Cass School of Art in London, UK.

After coming back to her motherland, she served as a faculty member at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University from 1980 to 2001. After retiring, she went back to London.

She returned to Bangladesh seven months ago from the UK to preserve her artistic ventures; however, became unwell and hospitalised.

In 1974, she built a sculpture at Dhaka Central Jail to commemorate the country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She crafted her majestic work, 'Shoparjito Shadhinota' at DU's TSC in 1990 and Swadhinata Sangram at the university's Fuller Road area in the capital which was inaugurated in 1999.

Her other monumental works include the sculpture of Swami Vivekananda at Jagannath Hall in 1994 and many others in the home and beyond, and she has also participated in many exhibitions showcasing her majestic sculpture works.

Sikder received the Prime Minister's Award for Sculpture in 1974 and was later awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2000, among many other awards. She is survived by two children, who live in London.