Murtaza Bashir

Baseer was born in Dacca, Bangladesh in 1932. Baseer enrolled in Dacca Art College (now the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka) in 1949. After graduating in 1954, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence before specialising in mosaic and etching at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA) in Paris from 1971–73. Baseer has written several novels including Ultramarine (1954), Kanch-er Pakhir Gaan (1969), Mitar Shangey Char Shandha and Amitakkhar. He was a regular contributor to now defunct literary journals such as Dilruba, Samakal, and Saogat. His first published poem was Parbe Na. In 1964, he was the screenwriter, art director, and chief assistant director on the 1965 Bengali film Nadi O Nari (The River and the Women). He was also art director on the 1965 Urdu film Kaise Kahoon. Baseer was active in leftist politics during the 1950s and was sent to prison during the erstwhile Pakistan government. In 1987, he received a fellowship from British Council to carry out research on folk and traditional art of Bangladesh.