{{Short description|Bangladeshi artist and cartoonist (born 1943)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Rafiqun Nabi | native_name = রফিকুন নবী | native_name_lang = bn | image = Rafiqun Nabi (cropped).JPG | caption = Nabi in 2011 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1943|11|28}} | birth_place = Chapai Nawabganj, Bengal Presidency, British India | other_names = Ranabi | alma_mater = East Pakistan College of Arts and Crafts | occupation = Artist, cartoonist | years_active = 1964–present | signature = Signature of Rafiqun Nabi.jpg }} '''Rafiqun Nabi''' (born 28 November 1943), better known as '''Ranabi''', is a Bangladeshi artist and cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''Tokai'', a character symbolizing the poor street boys of Dhaka who lives on picking things from dustbins or begging and having a knack of telling simple yet painful truths about current political and socio-economic situation of the country.<ref name=brilliance>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news/rafiqun-nabi-maintains-relevance-brilliance |title=Rafiqun Nabi maintains relevance, brilliance |date=19 April 2013 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=1 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=joy>{{cite news |last=Haq |first=Fayza |date=16 May 2014 |title=Rafiqun Nabi – Recreating the Joy of Life |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/rafiqun-nabi-recreating-the-joy-of-life-24069 |newspaper=The Daily Star}}</ref> He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 1993 by the government of Bangladesh.<ref name=ekushey>{{cite news |url=http://www.moca.gov.bd/site/page/c706da0c-29ee-4f0f-95d9-fa6705e19001/ |script-title=bn:একুশে পদকপ্রাপ্ত সুধীবৃন্দ |access-date=23 August 2017 |publisher=Government of Bangladesh |language=bn |trans-title=Ekushey Padak winners list}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Nabi was born on 28 November 1943 to a Bengali Muslim family in Nawabganj District in India (now in northwest Bangladesh) in 1943.<ref name=bf>{{cite web |title=Rafiqun Nabi |url=https://www.bengalfoundation.org/artists/ |publisher=Bengal Foundation |access-date=31 August 2011}}</ref> He started drawing in his childhood. In the early 1950s, his father took him to a painting exhibition, held at the then Burdwan House (now Bangla Academy).<ref name=brilliance/> He completed his bachelor's and master's from the East Pakistan College of Arts and Crafts (now Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka).<ref name=brilliance/> He studied under the supervision of artists like Zainul Abedin and Quamrul Hassan. He received a scholarship from the Asia Foundation between 1962 and 1964.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} During 1973–1976, he studied printmaking in Athens School of Fine Arts under the Greek Government's postgraduate scholarship.<ref name=brilliance/>
Nabi served as a faculty member of Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka during 1964–2010.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2011/02/01/personality.htm|title=Inside the Mind of a Master Painter |newspaper=The Daily Star|date=4 February 2011|access-date=1 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=bf/>
==Career== Nabi started out as a professional cartoonist in 1963.<ref name=tickle>{{Cite news |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2003/06/04/coverstory.htm|title=Cartoon: the Art that Tickles|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=4 June 2003|access-date=1 December 2017}}</ref> His first contribution was to Weekly Purbodesh. Later in the mid-1960s, he became a regular in Shochitro Shandhani where he used to illustrate with cartoons the column ''Kaal Penchar Dairy'' by Abdul Gani Hazari.<ref name=tickle/> In the late 1960s, he worked for the ''Weekly Express'', an English periodical. During 1969, he got involved in a periodical named ''Forum'', published by Rehman Sobhan and Hamida Hossain.<ref name=tickle/>
Nabi returned from Greece in 1976. He began to contribute cartoons to the Weekly ''Bichitra'' and ''Dainik Bangla''. He created the character ''Tokai'', which first appeared in the anniversary issue of ''Bichitra'' in May 1977.<ref name=tickle/>
In 2025, Syed Azizul Huq published ''Rafiqun Nabi'r Chitrabali'' (Gallery Chitrak)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gallery Chitrak launches Syed Azizul Huq's book on art maestro Rafiqun Nabi |url=https://unb.com.bd/category/Lifestyle/gallery-chitrak-launches-syed-azizul-huqs-book-on-art-maestro-rafiqun-nabi/151590 |access-date=2025-09-16 |website=unb.com.bd |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=প্রতিবেদক |first=নিজস্ব |date=2025-01-19 |title=রফিকুন নবীর কাজে দেশের চিত্র ও সংস্কৃতি ফুটে ওঠে |url=https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/capital/5q5oktvqeo |access-date=2025-09-16 |website=Prothomalo |language=bn}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Mansur |first=Abul |year=2012 |chapter=Paintings |chapter-url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Paintings |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |quote=Although more well-known as a book cover designer and cartoonist, Rafiqun Nabi is now a leading pictographist of the country, especially after his overseas training. He arranges his subjects somewhat in folk and somewhat in geometric styles.}} * {{cite news |last=Yee |first=Amy |date=13 March 2014 |title=In Bangladesh, a vibrant contemporary scene |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/arts/international/in-bangladesh-a-vibrant-contemporary-scene.html |newspaper=The New York Times}} * {{cite book |last=Lent |first=John A. |date=2015 |title=Asian Comics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pv8aBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT513 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |pages=513– |isbn=978-1-62674-294-9}}
{{Commons category}} {{Artists of Bangladesh}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabi, Rafiqun}} Category:Living people Category:1943 births Category:People from Shibganj Upazila, Chapai Nawabganj Category:University of Dhaka Faculty of Fine Arts alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Dhaka Category:Bangladeshi editorial cartoonists Category:Bangladeshi painters Category:Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Category:Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy
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