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Deeba sits at her desk in her bedroom – she just started working on a new painting. She has seen dozens of short videos of artists creating beautiful pieces on Instagram and tries to incorporate bits of their style into her work. She knows that good art isn't about fancy materials or equipment, but it would sure be nice if she could get her hands on one of those pretty brush pens, alcohol markers or sketchbooks without going bankrupt by ordering from those expensive online shops. So she steps out onto the busy streets of Dhaka, wondering where she could find a shop in this city that would satisfy her artistic hunger.
If you have been in Deeba's shoes like I have been so many times, this article is for you – an artist's guidebook to Dhaka. Here, I've listed five areas in our city where you can replenish your artistic arsenal.
Aziz Super Market, Shahbag
At first glance, the shabby market complex opposite Pathak Samabesh in Shahbag does not seem like it holds two of Dhaka's most famous art shops inside it. But if you go inside the building, take the sketchy-looking elevator to the third floor (the elevator itself doesn't stop on the third floor; you have to go to the fourth floor and walk down the stairs) and go down the corridor to your first right, you will find a shop – Khero Khata.
If aesthetically pleasing sketchbooks with beautiful covers are your thing, then Khero Khata is your shop. The shelves of the small shop are lined with sketchbooks of all sizes and textures. You will find sketchbooks here that can fit in your shirt's pocket and weigh your bag down – all with beautiful covers and various themes. Some covers have on them liberation war posters or faces of revolutionaries like Che Guevara and Kazi Nazrul Islam, while some have famous works of legendary artists Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hasan and SM Sultan gracing them, and others have snippets from folk songs and poems.
On the same floor in Aziz Super Market, you will find another shop recognized by most artists in Dhaka—Grasshopper. Entering Grasshopper for the first time feels like walking through a portal into an artistic wonderland. Every shop wall has paint bottles and tubes, brushes, pens, markers, sketchbooks and painting pads, palettes, spray bottles, and more.
Nilkhet and New Market
Nilkhet is known as a bookworm's wonderland where no price is fixed. The shops in Nilkhet are primarily stationary, and only some contain art materials. So, when you're done seeing Nilkhet, cross the street and enter through the gates of New Market. Here, once again, you will find yourself in a maze. If you can navigate the shops and stalls of toys, snacks, pottery, clothes, cosmetics and baking items, you can find some art shops with surprisingly well-stocked inventories.
Standout shops include Modern Stationery, which has two shops side-by-side, one exclusively dedicated to various papers of various sizes, textures, colours, and thicknesses and the other containing general art materials of great variety.
Pixels, Moghbazar
If you enter Grand Plaza near the Wireless Rail Gate in Moghbazar, you will find shops on the ground floor named 'Pixels.' One is filled with black-and-white canvases in different sizes and shapes. The other is the main attraction. This shop has beautiful, high-quality sketchbooks and painting pads, papers, pens, brushes, and paints. It also has a massive variety of journaling stickers and diaries, gift boxes, stationary items like notepads and highlighters, and even a collection of beautiful scented candles.
Uttara
If you live in Dhaka's North Pole, you're probably not likely to visit any places that have been and will be listed here just to buy art supplies. Visit Azampur and Rajuk Commercial Complex. If the artist in you is still hungry, visit the shops adjacent to the Shanto-Mariam University campuses near Zamzam Tower and the main campus in Sector-17.
Owing to the primary customer base of these shops being the university's Fashion Design, Graphic Design, and Fine Arts students, you will find many unique art supplies catered to the specifications of the students' courses.
The Journal Anatomy, Dhanmondi
'Though Journal Anatomy' is known more for its online page, its little shop on the second floor of ADC Empire Plaza in Dhanmondi is worth a visit if you're into journaling.
Although not strictly an art shop, this shop will quench the mental thirst of anyone looking to add an aesthetic touch to their life. I spent almost an hour standing around and looking at the wall lined with journaling stickers of many themes and their beautiful themed tapes, my favourite being the Starry Nights one. Deeba is a fantastic artist with or without the supplies from all these stores; however, she enjoys taking a break from work and study to visit these places and replenish her soul, regardless of how much money she spends here. If you find yourself needing some artistic replenishment or maybe just needing some art supplies, these are some of the places you can visit to see the splashes of colour in the dust of Dhaka.