Rickshaw Painter

Photography: Salman Saeed

Rickshaw is one of the principal transport of Bangladesh. Rickshaw painting is the painting that is done to a tin plate fixed to the lower rear of the rickshaw.Initially rickshaw painting was done mainly by the people of  Old Dhaka only.Nowadays, a few painters can be found in other parts of Dhaka city but this was mainly the profession of the people living in Old Dhaka at one time.

It is considered such a traditional profession that the art of the rickshaw painter is passed from the (ustad) master to the apprentice.Not everybody can become a rickshaw painter. The rickshaw paintings are usually very brightly coloured and flat in nature. Rickshaw painting is a hard work but hardly any painter ever signs his name in the painting. Sometimes the rickshaw maker’s name or the rickshaw owner’s name is written on the plate but not the name of the painter. It is hoped that as rickshaw painting is being recognised as a form of folk art all over the world,more and more rickshaw painters will come forward and establish the ownership of their paintings by signing their names on the plate.