Dhaka, Jan 17 (UNB) - The inaugural ceremony of group painting exhibition 'Preceptor-Disciple: Disciple-Preceptor' will be held at Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) at 5:30 pm on Friday.

Eminent artist Monirul Islam will inaugurate the exhibition as the chief guest while Dhaka University’s Fine Art faculty Dean Nisar Hossain and art connoisseurs Abdullah Al Mahmud and Mikhail I Islam will attend as special guests.

The Oriental Painting Studio Bangladesh is going to present its first group exhibition at La Galerie of AFD featuring artists Amit Nandi, Malay Bala, and Zahangir Alom, who will showcase oriental paintings ranging from classical to contemporary.

From the mythical sagas like the vignettes of Shakuntala, the eternal love between Radha-Krishna, and the political aspects from the Mahabharata to the realistic, abstract, semi-abstract, symbolic, and modern presentations of the idyllic beauty of Bengal, portraits of the towering literary and cultural personalities like Tagore and Nazrul, and the contemporary socio-political and cultural features all have manifested gracefully in their canvasses.

Based in Dhaka, the trio, following the conventional Guru-Shishya Parampara, runs various art activities like practising, exhibiting and promoting oriental art in Bangladesh.

They also run the Oriental Painting Study Group that has successfully organised eight oriental painting exhibitions with the participation of national and international artists.

The artists of the studio are committed to open up new possibilities for oriental art in Bangladesh.

There are around 50 artworks in mixed media will be on display for this exhibition. The exhibition will be open to all till Friday, February 1.

The visitors may throng the exhibition on Monday to Thursday from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm and on Friday and Saturday from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon and 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Dhaka, Jan 16 (UNB) – Priota Iftekhar, the winner of ‘Miss Culture Worldwide-2018’, says her goal is to inform the world about the culture and heritage of Bangladesh.

“I’m elated at such an achievement on the Victory Day,” she told a media briefing, her first since the competition in Zimbabwe in December last year.

It was Bangladesh’s first win in the competition.

Priota shared her experiences at a press conference arranged by Surecell Medical at Jatiya Press Club on Wednesday. 

“My main goal was to highlight Bangladesh and its culture. And I did it,” she said. “The feeling of hoisting the national flag at an international event cannot be described in words.”

“I dressed as a female freedom fighter in the final stage of the competition to represent my country,” Priota said. She suffered a leg injury before the competition but took part ignoring the doctor’s warning. 

“I never thought that I would be the champion. I thought at best I would reach top three,” she added.

Priota established ‘Flag Girl’ in 2008 to help women travellers at home and abroad. It currently has over 200 members. 

She was also a recipient of Joy Bangla Youth Award-2018.

Priota, also the ambassador of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation, starred in a telefilm titled “Impossible five” back in 2013 and later in Sri Lankan film “Pani Makuluwo” in 2017. 
 

Dhaka, Jan 16 (UNB) - Adventure movie in Bangla ‘Hridoyer Rongdhonu’ (Life in Rainbow) will be premiered at 17th Dhaka International Film Festival 2019 on Thursday.

The movie directed by Razibul Hossain will be screened at 7:30 pm at the Public Library Auditorium in the city as part of the ongoing month-long film festival.

The movie in ‘Hridoyer Rongdhonu’ (Life in Rainbow) was selected as “View Corner” at Goa Film Bazaar in last year.

The director told UNB that the movie will be released very soon in the theaters across the country. 

Asian Institute of Media and Communication Bangladesh (AIMC) informed that its first Asian Premier was held on 24th November at QUBE 2 Hall at 2 pm in India tourist city Goa.

'Life in Rainbow' is a story of four aspiring youth (3 boys and 1 girl). They are friends. They have everything in their life. One day their life turns into a mystery. They got a call from a mysterious character as the mysterious character knew everything about them (Mina, Shams, Shojon and Khing) and their desire, expectations, inner calls etc.

He offered them a trip, "If you dare enough to take any challenges you can join a trip, a trip to an unknown destination!" They never thought this journey would make them a new person with enlightens of inner knowledge, skills and personality.

After two years of straggling for censorship certificate from Bangladesh Film Censor Board, the film got finally received it on October 23, 2018. 

Dhaka, Jan15 (UNB) - The tenth edition of Chobi Mela, the most prestigious photography festival in Asia, will begin on 28 February.

In a press conference held at Drik’s new gallery in Panthapath on Tuesday, the organisers updated the media on upcoming festival programme. 

The festival will continue with many happenings till 9 March 2019. 
 
Chobi Mela - International Festival of Photography is put together biannually by Drik Picture Library Ltd. and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute. Since its inception in 2000, Chobi Mela has been the most significant photography event in Asia and a regular biennale.
 
At the press conference Festival Director Shahidul Alam presented an overview of the upcoming festival and introduced the newly formed Chobi Mela advisory board members.

Members include prominent Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, former Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Khondokar Ibrahim Khaled, human rights activist Khushi Kabir, Nepali publisher, writer and editor Kunda Dixit, Indian photographer Raghu Rai, economist Rehman Sobhan, literary critic, activist and historian Serajul Islam Choudhury and human rights activist and former Advisor to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh Sultana Kamal. 

Shahidul Alam also shared that eminent writer Arundhati Roy from India will be visiting upcoming Chobi Mela to give an artist talk.
 
The theme for Chobi Mela X is ‘Place’. Curated by ASM Rezaur Rahman, Munem Wasif, Sarker Protick, Tanzim Wahab along with guest curators including Naeem Mohaiemen and Sabih Ahmed, the tenth edition of the festival will be more exciting with all venues situated in Dhanmondi area.

The Drik-Pathshala under construction building in Panthapath will be the main venue along with other galleries of Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Drik Gallery 1 & 2 (Dhanmondi) and Drik Gallery 3 (Panthapath). 

Chobi Mela X also brings an exciting list of events. Artist’s talks, panel discussions and curated slideshow will be organised around the theme ‘Place’ at Goethe Institut Bangladesh auditorium while Pathshala South Asian Media Institute is the educational venue where workshops, and portfolio reviews will be held.
 
Chobi Mela X is to feature over 27 exhibitions with works from 35 artists spanning 20 countries. 

The festival has also engaged a group of young Bangladeshi artists to produce site-specific artwork for the festival. To investigate the theme ‘Place’, artists from different backgrounds of painting, drawing, animation, sculpture, photography, video, sound and installation will stretch the medium physically and conceptually.
 
The festival hosts workshops by photo practitioners from all around the world. This includes workshop by Peter Bialobrzeski, noted for his excellent photography teaching background. 

As part of the festival, a bookmaking workshop by Valentina Abenavoli will be arranged with a group of photographers for hands on training on making their own photobooks while world renowned German publisher and bookmaker Gerhard Steidl will also give an artist talk on photobooks.
 
Ensuring access for the general public has always been an important part of the festival and mobile exhibitions on rikshaw vans have become its trademark. The mobile exhibition will travel all over Dhaka city including remote locations. 

The festival is free and open to the public.

Bulgaria, Jan 13 (AP/UNB) — Plovdiv, the oldest city in Bulgaria, has been officially inaugurated as the European Capital of Culture for 2019.

Some 50,000 people gathered on a main square Saturday to watch the opening show dubbed "We are all colors" with 1,500 local and foreign artists on several stages. The entertainment included traditional Bulgarian folk dancers, 200 choir singers, a brass orchestra and a musical and laser spectacle.

Squeezed between the Balkan and the Rodopi Mountains, Bulgaria's second-largest city has survived for thousands of years on the crossroads between Western Europe and the Middle East. Plovdiv is in central Bulgaria, 144 kilometers  (90 miles) southeast of Sofia, the capital.

Plovdiv claims to be the oldest continually inhabited European city, with more than 6,000 years of history. Evidence of that can be seen in many architectural landmarks dating back to Thracian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times.

The city on both sides of the Maritsa River is also known for its ethnic diversity. Many of its 340,000 inhabitants belong to the country's Turkish, Roma, Armenian, Greek and Jewish minorities, all of which have quite a strong influence on the city's vibrant cultural life.

Examples of this influence were presented during the opening music, light and dance show under the motto "Together."

Some 350 cultural events are scheduled in Plovdiv this year, including one exhibition featuring fragments of the Berlin Wall to mark 30 years since its fall and another with 30 short films and debates on how art can foster liberty.

Plovdiv, the first Bulgarian city to become a European culture capital, was also named among The New York Times' list of 52 places to go in 2019. It shares the 2019 culture title with the Italian city of Matera.

"This year will be a turning point for Plovdiv. We have spent four years to prepare all events. I'm sure that Plovdiv will never be the same," Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva, the art director of Plovdiv 2019, told reporters.