Bangladesh Shilpakla Academy (BSA) launched an exclusive live and AR-VR (augmented-virtual reality) interactive exhibition titled ‘July Uprising on Posters’ featuring artist Debashish Chakrabarty's July Uprising artworks at the National Art Gallery in the capital.

BSA’s Production Department organised the exhibition with an opening ceremony at the National Art Gallery Auditorium on Tuesday, January 7.

Dr Asif Nazrul, adviser to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment, joined the ceremony as the chief guest. Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Dr Syed Jamil Ahmed presided over the event.

Eminent photographer, curator, activist and managing director of Drik Picture Library, Dr Shahidul Alam; writer, journalist, and managing director of Bangladesh News Agency (BSS), Mahabub Morshed; and director of the Fine Arts Department of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Mustafa Zaman, were also present as the special guests at the opening ceremony.

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Writer and researcher Parvez Alam joined live from Amsterdam, Netherlands’, and artist Debashish Chakrabarty joined live from the US. Abdul Halim Chanchal, Director of the Production Department of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy delivered the welcome speech on the occasion.

Dr Asif Nazrul said, "The fascist government's use of filthy narrative-making tactics has been demonstrated to us over the past 15 years; several claims of development advancement have been made through those tactics. A minimal poster can make a significant impact on developing an intriguing narrative, and it has also contributed to the July Uprising that we have seen through Debashish’s excellent works.”

"Graffiti can be a powerful medium that we have not seen in the political context of the last 15 years," the adviser stated in reference to the July movement art graffiti. “Graffiti might not be around in the future, but if it is documented properly, it will be sustained—thus the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy's endeavour is commendable from that perspective.”

Dr Syed Jamil Ahmed, Director General of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, stated, "Artist Debashish Chakrabarty has enviably demonstrated how art can be both a political tool and a work of art at the same time. The artist deserves appreciation for his ability to maintain his artistic integrity in the face of the revolution and widespread unrest.”

The Director General also said that the production department will spread this work widely among the people across the country through exhibitions like these with AR-VR, and the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy will bring such activities more in the future.

Artist Debashish Chakrabarty has been protesting his posters on social media for the past few years, presenting his own political commentary on important socio-political issues within the posters. As the desire of the masses was awakened in his poster, the style of poster art also became unique in the history of Bangladeshi art.

Considering the importance of Bangladeshi art and popular uprising, this live and AR-VR exhibition has been organised with 20 posters selected from the hundreds of posters made by artist Debashish Chakrabarty during the July uprising.

Keerti Creations collaborated with BSA to incorporate the AR-VR technology for this exhibition, which will be permanently preserved in the VR Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and there will be arrangements for VR exhibitions under the supervision of the Production Department in different districts.

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Various perspectives and contexts of the subject of the artist's poster will be seen through AR-VR in this exhibition, where the audience can explore and understand the context and perspective of the specific poster, various structures, documentaries, audio, and video through the VR controller in an interactive way.

The exhibition will continue till January 19, daily from 11 am to 8 pm at Gallery 5 of BSA’s National Art Gallery.