Dhaka, Feb 19 (UNB) - Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) celebrated its 45th founding anniversary on Tuesday.

Elaborate programmes were organjsed on the academy premises on the occasion. The programmes featured discussion, cultural events and acrobatic show. 

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid was present as the chief guest at the discussion and cultural session while BSA Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky presided over the event.

An exhibition, based on the works of all departments and sections of BSA, was held at the National Art Plaza of BSA.

Its district branches arranged festivals, programmes and training on various fine and performing arts. 

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is the principal state-sponsored national cultural centre of the country.
 

Dhaka, Feb 18 (UNB) - Chhayanaut, a leading cultural outfit of Bangladesh, was honoured with India’s prestigious Rabindranath Tagore Award for cultural harmony on Monday for the year 2015 by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.

Chhayanaut is a cultural organisation of Bangladesh which has played a leading role in the promotion of Tagore’s works and Bangla arts and literature not only within Bangladesh, but all across the world.

It also has rushed to the aid of people at times of famines, floods or riots, bringing people together to resolve crises with songs of protest on their lips.

While handing over the award at a function held at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi, President Kovind said cooperation between Bangladesh and India in recent years in connectivity and developmental projects and in people-to-people engagement is blessed by the ethos of ‘Gurudev’.

Chhayanaut President Sanjida Khatun received the award, which carries Rs one crore, a citation and an exquisite handicraft item, said Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

In her award acceptance speech which began with a Tagore song, Sanjida Khatun said Chhayanaut was honoured to receive the recognition named after Rabindranath from the Indian government.

“You’ve given us more than an award. You’ve inspired us to continue to pass on our cultural heritage and strive for fellowship and harmony,” she said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Indian President said this Award is a celebration of Indian traditions of culture and of our civilisational wealth – whether in literature or music, art or drama, sculpture or handicrafts, design or digital art.

“Each region in our country has a distinct cultural identity. Yet, in its essence, culture does not divide – it unites and harmonises all of India and all of humanity,” Press Information Bureau (PIB) of India quoted him as saying.

Congratulating the awardees, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore who understood the strength of diversity of our country and inculcated it in his Rabindra Sangeet.

The Prime Minister said Gurudev is respected internationally. The character and message emanating from the works of Gurudev transcend time and circumstance.

The Prime Minister added that in view of the conditions which prevail in the world today, it has become even more relevant to propagate the message of harmony and peace of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

The Indian President also presented the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014 and 2016 to Rajkumar Singhajit Singh and Ram Vanji Sutar respectively, on the same day.

In his welcome address, Minister of State for Culture (IC) Dr Mahesh Sharma said it is a matter of great pride for them to honor Rajkumar Singhajit Singh, Chhayanaut and Ram Vanji Sutar who have done great work to carry forward the legacy of cultural harmony of Rabindranath Tagore. 

The Tagore award for Cultural Harmony was introduced in 2012 and the first two recipients were sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and composer Zubin Mehta in 2012 and 2013.

Nashville, Feb 17 (AP/UNB) — Country star Miranda Lambert celebrated Valentine's Day weekend with the announcement that she secretly got married.

A representative for the singer confirmed the marriage after Lambert posted photos on social media Saturday showing her in a white lace gown with her new husband, Brendan Mcloughlin. She wrote that in honor of Valentine's Day, she wanted to share that she "met the love of my life. And we got hitched!"

It's unclear when the marriage occurred.

The two-time Grammy winner was previously married to country star Blake Shelton, but she hadn't spoken publicly about her relationship with Mcloughlin before Saturday. The Texas-born singer who is also a member of the group Pistol Annies has had hits with songs like "The House That Built Me," ''White Liar," ''Mama's Broken Heart," and "Gunpowder and Lead."

New York, Feb 16 (AP/UNB) — Bowing to a backlash that had threatened to engulf an already blunder-plagued Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday reversed its decision to present four awards during the commercial breaks of this year's Oscar broadcast.

All 24 categories will be shown live, after all, at the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, the academy announced in a statement. On Monday, the academy had said that the winning speeches for cinematography, film editing, makeup and hairstyling and live-action short would be aired in a shortened, taped segment during the broadcast.

"Nine days until the showtime, still tweaking the script" the Academy tweeted Friday.

The academy did not address whether the change meant extending the show's length, which organizers have said would be reduced to three hours.

The academy's move to strike awards from the live broadcast was fiercely contested by many of this year's Oscar nominees, including "Roma" director Alfonso Cuaron and "BlacKkKlansman" filmmaker Spike Lee. The American Society of Cinematographers on Wednesday issued an open-letter to the academy, signed by Martin Scorsese, Brad Pitt and others, calling the plans an insult to the cinematic arts.

"When the recognition of those responsible for the creation of outstanding cinema is being diminished by the very institution whose purpose it is to protect it, then we are no longer upholding the spirit of the academy's promise to celebrate film as a collaborative art form," the letter read.

The academy on Wednesday defended the decision and blamed "a chain of misinformation" on the backlash. Following record-low ratings to last year's broadcast, the academy has made a swifter, three-hour telecast a priority. ABC, which airs the Oscars, is planning to premiere a sneak-peak of a new drama series after the Oscar telecast, which regularly ranks as the most-watched non-NFL broadcast of the year.

This is just the latest flip-flop by the academy in its attempts to tweak the Oscars.

The academy's headaches began after it last summer trotted out the induction of a "popular film Oscar." The plan sparked such outrage (Rob Lowe pronounced the film industry dead, "survived by sequels, tent-poles and vertical integration") that the new award was scuttled within a month.

Kevin Hart was announced as this year's Oscar host only to withdraw days later when many took issue with his old homophobic tweets and the comedian initially "chose to pass on the apology." Hart finally apologized as he resigned, leaving the Oscars host-less for only the fifth time in its 91-year history.

And after first planning to limit the best song nominee performances, the academy confirmed that all songs will indeed be performed.

Veteran makeup artist Lois Burwell, who is on the film academy's board of governors, on Friday called the efforts to change the Oscars an "evolving process."

"With anything creative, you start in one place and then there's the journey to where you end up," said Burwell. "And sometimes you have to do things that don't work in order to find out what does work. So there's always a kind of awkwardness about someone going, 'Oh no, that was a mistake.' But a mistake is something you learn from and build upon."

New York, Feb 15 (AP/UNB) — Fashion Week has ended in New York, leaving a trail of sequins and feathers, worn-out stilettos and blisters and traffic jams. But sometimes, fashion feels good: there were some moments of genuine, happy emotion. Here are a few feel-good moments of the week:

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BARRY IN THE HOUSE

No, Michael Kors didn't make that orange bedazzled "Copa" jacket that Barry Manilow wore to perform at the designer's show. We're not sure who did, but it was fabulous.

Manilow, a surprise guest at Kors' '70s runway bash, belted his hit "Copacabana" from a glitzy stage set up near the catwalk as Bella Hadid danced beside him and rock muse Patti Hansen (married to Keith Richards) hopped up for a quick kiss after walking for Kors, an old friend.

Backstage after the show, Kors said he had met Manilow at a concert a year ago and invited him on board. The pop king had never been to a fashion show before, Kors said, calling Manilow the "cherry on the cake."

—Leanne Italie

AGE IS JUST A ... WELL, YOU KNOW

The grand finale of designer Naeem Khan's runway show featured three models, all over age 60, walking the runway in silver sequined gowns.

Karen Bjornson, Alva Chinn and Pat Cleveland were known for working with Halston in the 1970s and were part of a group known as the Halstonettes. Khan was an apprentice under Halston earlier in his career.

But it wasn't the age of these models that was impressive, it was their attitude. These three had such confidence, pizazz and style that audience members were standing, applauding and whooping with joy. These models brought down the house.

—Jill Dobson

THE ORIGINAL SUPERMODEL RETURNS

And then there was famed '90s supermodel Christy Turlington — heck, she's one of the women they coined the phrase for — stunning the fashion world by turning up to walk the Marc Jacobs runway in a voluminous black feathered gown and matching fascinator, closing out New York Fashion Week with an emotional bang.

Taking to Instagram later, Turlington explained that she had turned 50 earlier in the year and "have arrived at a place where 'why the ... not' is the answer that comes up when I ask myself questions." And she said she has "a 15-year-old daughter who I desperately want to see and hear me, and this is a medium that 'speaks' to her."

Her appearance came as Jacobs put on one of his best shows in years, filling the runway with high drama and fairytale whimsy.

—Jocelyn Noveck

THIS ONE'S FOR MOM

In a week that focuses on appearance, it was refreshing to see a moment of pure tenderness.

Brandon Maxwell dedicated his show to his mother, Pam Woolley, who's been battling breast cancer, and to other strong women everywhere. At the end, the designer escorted her down the runway for a final bow, kissing the side of her head as she wiped away tears.

Maxwell called the show "the physical manifestation of, I think, the strength that I saw her display over the past few months."

—Ragan Clark

LAUGHTER ON THE RUNWAY

The Badgley Mischa show featured sleek, fitted dresses with stretch, in sequined metallic, black and green. But the end of the show was a vision in red, when all the models stormed the runway at once, in short dresses made of various fabrics, including lace, velvet and feathers — all in the same shade of crimson.

Usually models remain stone faced when strutting the runway, but this finale had models smiling and clapping and clearly enjoying the hoots and applause from the enthusiastic crowd.

—Brooke Lefferts