Firoz Mahmud 

Carving Itihash 
WOOD CARVING SERIES (Ongoing) 
Manually carved mahogany wood, auto paint, disodium octaborate tetrahydrate 
metal  
Size: Golden works are 14x14x d.2 inch each, Brown natural wood: 36×48 x d.2 inch  
 
Firoz Mahmud’s wood carving series ​`Carving Itihash` ​narrates about history and 
legacy of South Asia and beyond as like his oil paintings and mixed media paperwork. 
He transformed his painterly and linear based paperwork into wood which is carved 
manually depict aspects of cultural heritage may have gotten devalued or 
undermined through the mechanisms of colonialism that affected many nations till 
20th century. `​Itihash` is Bengali word, means history. Firoz Curves the history of his 
native region, precolonial, postcolonial and colonial Itihash.  
 
In C
​ urving Itihash series​. Firoz uses idioms such as old palaces, forts, spice trees or 
herbaceous plants, wild animals and colonial traders in these drawings and carvings, 
addressing the riches of his native land. Artist juxtaposes themes of socio-political 
culture, tradition, history, and myths that beg the question of how they exist today, 
and what forces have created new visual territories, impacting how we remember our 
own cultural histories and those of our neighbors. These are created between 2015 ~ 
2018. 
 
 
 
 
 
Exhibited Previously 
Ota Fine Arts​ Singapore,​ 2018~2019 
National Art Gallery,​ Dhaka, National Exhibit, 2017 
Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts​,​ Dhaka, 2015  
Exhibit 320,​ ​New Delhi, 2015 
 
More info: ​Wood Carving​, ​New Nation​, ​COBO Art Magazine​,  
Ota Fine Arts Tokyo/Shanghai/Singapore​, ​Exhibit 320​,  

 
 
 
Artworks: Wood carving 

 
​ 017, manually carved mahogany wood, auto paint, disodium octaborate tetrahydrate with metal base, Size: 36×48 x d.2 inch  
Carving Itihash 8, 2
  

 
Carving Itihash7, ​2017, manually carved mahogany wood, auto paint, disodium octaborate tetrahydrate with metal base, Size: 36×48 x d.2 inch  
  
 

 
[Detail] Carving Itihash 8, ​2017, manually carved mahogany wood, auto paint, disodium octaborate tetrahydrate with metal base, Size: 36×48 x d.2 inch
  

Carving Itihash 3 (Carving on Dismal Legacy)​ ​, ​2015,

manually carved mahogany wood, auto paint,
 disodium octaborate tetrahydrate, ​14x14x d.2 inch 
 
 

 
 
Carving Itihash 4, ​2017,
manually carved mahogany wood,
 auto paint, disodium octaborate tetrahydrate
Size: ​14x14x d.2 inch 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Carving Itihash 5 (Carving on Dismal Legacy1)​ ​, ​2015,
manually carved mahogany wood, auto paint,
disodium octaborate tetrahydrate, ​14x14x d.2 inch 
 
 
  
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Close-up view of Carving Itihash 5
(Carving on Dismal Legacy 1​) 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Carving Itihash 6 (Carving on Dismal Legacy2)​ ​,
manually carved mahogany wood, auto paint, disodium
octaborate tetrahydrate, Size: ​14x14x d.2 inch 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Carving Itihash 7 (Carving on Dismal Legacy 4)​ ​, ​2017,
manually carved mahogany wood,
auto paint, disodium octaborate tetrah
EXHIBITION INSTALLATION VIEW

 
 
 
Installation view at  
Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts,​ Dhaka, 2015 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 

 
  
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Installation view at  
Exhibit 320,​ N
​ ew Delhi, 2015 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Installation view at  
Exhibit 320,​ N
​ ew Delhi, 2015 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Carving Itihash​ view at  
Ota Fine Arts Singapore, 2018 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Carving Itihash​ view at  
 Ota Fine Arts Singapore, 2018 
 
 
DETAIL AND PROGRESS