Artist Kamruzzaman Chowdhury Shadhin has won the grand prize at the 17th Asian Art Biennale for an innovative installation piece that shows the adverse impact of nature on the life of the santal community.

The three-dimensional work comprises 5,500 clay rats gathered atop what looks like an earthen hut.

Titled ‘Greed,’ the piece was put on display, along with 483 other artworks by 328 artists from 55 countries, on the third floor of the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

‘It’s a small version of another larger, more inclusive installation piece of mine that shows how changes in the lifestyle of the santal community are affecting their life and environment,’ Shadhin tells New Age.

‘Through this work, I tried to show how the aggression of rats has made the life of santal community difficult. It happened because of the decline in the population of foxes, owls, eagles and other animals that live on rats and smaller animals and organisms,’ Shadhin said, adding that the number of owls and foxes decreased due to the indiscriminate use of chemical substances on agricultural products.

He further said he got the idea to work on the theme while working with the santal community in Thakurgaon.

‘I found an earthen cottage in a santal village with hundreds of holes created by the rats. And the people there had no choice but to demolish it.’

A graduate of graphics art from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University, Kamruzzaman Chowdhury Shadhin said he has been working on the santal community since 2001.

‘My fascination for the community developed in my childhood when I used to hunt with the santal people in my locality in Thakurgaon,’ he said.

Thursday’s recognition was Shadhin’s second at the Asian Art Biennale.

Previously, he won an Honourable Mention Award at the 16th Asian Art Biennale, held in 2014, for a video installation featuring the miserable life of the Palestinian people.

‘I always try to depict the sufferings of the oppressed and I want to continue it throughout my life,’ Shadhin said.