Novera Ahmed

Novera Ahmed (29 March 1939 – 6 May 2015) was a Bangladeshi modern sculptor. She was awarded the Ekushey Padak medal by the government of Bangladesh in 1997 and Independence Award in 2025. Artist Zainul Abedin described her work saying "What Novera is doing now will take us a long time to understand – she is that kind of an artist." Her ancestral home was in Chittagong. She studied in Calcutta and Comilla. In 1955 she was awarded a diploma in design in the modeling and sculpture course from Camberwell College of Arts in London. Her sister was already living in the city.

Out of her 100 sculptures, 33 sculptures are currently in Bangladesh National Museum. Ahmed's first exhibition was held in University of Dhaka in 1960.

After a bad car accident on Christmas Eve 1973, whilst in her 30s, Ahmed used a wheelchair. After this, her drawings included shapes and figures of a meditative character: space, island, birds in the sky, phoenix, flowers, water, sunshine and the moon, minimalist landscapes, human figures turned toward a new horizon and others. The couple got divorced in late 1954. She married Gregoire de Brouhns in 1984.

Death and legacy Ahmed suffered a stroke in 2010.

In August 2017, the ministry of cultural affairs of the government of Bangladesh announced a plan to purchase ten paintings by Ahmed for $47,000. The Musee Novera Ahmed at La Roche-Guyon was set up by her husband.

Selected works