Mohammad Kibria was a pioneer of the abstract art movement in Bangladesh. Born in 1929 in Birbhum of the then Bengal Presidency of British India, he graduated from the Government School of Art in 1950. In 1951, young Kibria came to Dhaka and started his career as an art teacher at the Nawabpur Government High School. In 1954, prompted by his teacher and mentor Zainul Abedin, Kibria joined the Government College of Arts and Crafts and eventually became a faculty member of the Department of Printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. Kibria went to Tokyo University of the Arts to pursue higher studies from 1959 to 1962. While in Japan, he was exposed to the works of modern masters of international repute, besides receiving training under well-known Japanese contemporary abstractionists. He also became familiar with Zen gardens and was inspired by their economy and grace. His sustained engagement with non-objective painting made him a revered figure in the region. He was awarded Ekushe Padak, the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, in 1983 and Swadhinata Padak (Independence Award), the country’s highest national civil award, in 1999 by the Government of Bangladesh. Kibria died of old-age complications at a hospital in Dhaka on June 7, 2011 at the age of 82.