Liberation War 1971, Bangladesh

About the Photographer

MRK Palash

Bengali, b. 1979

MRK Palash grew up hearing stories from his relatives about his country’s violent succession from Pakistan in 1971. In Liberation War 1971, Bangladesh (2010), the artist recreates tableaus based on these stories as a way of connecting with the conflict, which occurred before his birth. Bangladesh became an independent territory as a result of the conflict, which lasted for nine months and cost as many as 400,000 lives according to some estimates. Like many Bangladeshi youth, Palash’s experience of this war is secondhand, yet the events led to the formation of a nation that is deeply embedded in his identity and sense of self. His photographs highlight a drastic contrast in the experience of national heritage, as one generation’s lived experience becomes legend for the next.

MRK Palash is a socially concerned freelance photographer whose work focuses on political brutality and people living on the social, political, and environmental fringe. He studied photojournalism at the Pathshala South Asian Media Academy in Bangladesh, where he graduated in 2008. He lives and works in Dhaka, Bangladesh.