Drik Picture Library organised the Golam Kasem Daddy Lecture 2026 at DrikPath Bhaban in the capital earlier Friday evening, with Bangladesh National Museum Director General Tanzim Wahab delivering the lecture titled ‘July 36: A museum in the making’.

The lecture was organised as part of Drik’s 37th anniversary celebrations and focused on the transformation of the former prime minister’s residence, Ganabhaban, into the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum.

At the beginning of the event, photographer, activist and Drik Managing Director Shahidul Alam paid tribute to Golam Kasem Daddy, highlighting his contribution to the history of photography in Bangladesh.

Shahidul said Drik has been organising the lecture series annually since 2009 as part of its anniversary celebrations to honour Daddy’s memory and legacy. He described Daddy as not only a pioneering photographer but also a writer and lifelong learner, recalling that he continued to embrace new technologies even at the age of 101.

Introducing this year’s speaker, Shahid recalled Wahab’s journey from being a student of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute to becoming a prominent figure in photography and cultural practice and later taking charge as director general of the Bangladesh National Museum.

Wahab also serves as vice principal of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute and director of its International Programs.

Over the years, the Golam Kasem Daddy Lecture series has featured speakers from diverse fields, including artist and professor Dhaly Al Mamun, filmmaker Catherine Masud, artist and professor Lalarukh Selim, Palestinian writer and essayist Adania Shibli, researcher and scientist Professor Sayeedur Rahman, artist Mustafa Monowar, journalist and writer Nurul Kabir, and Muntasir Marai, manager of Media Initiatives at Al Jazeera.

Delivering the lecture, Wahab described how Ganabhaban was transformed into the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum, explaining the significance of the transformation, the process of developing the museum and its aim to preserve the experiences of ordinary people as part of the country’s collective memory.

At the museum’s entrance, visitors encounter the line ‘Memory’s struggle against forgetting’, which Wahab said reflects the institution’s purpose.

He said the museum was not created out of nostalgia, but as an act of resistance and a space where the country could confront and reflect on the actions of the state.

Recalling the events of July 2024, Wahab said the ‘Long March to Dhaka’ eventually became the ‘Long March to Ganabhaban’, as the residence had come to symbolise public anger and unanswered questions.

When the team first took responsibility for the site, they found it severely damaged, with graffiti covering the walls and thousands of documents and torn records scattered across the floors.

The team subsequently collected, scanned and preserved the materials to establish an archive. In coordination with the International Tribunal, the collection later developed into an important historical record, he said.

Wahab said the project was conceived as more than a conventional museum, describing it as a memorial to those killed, injured and affected during the July Mass Uprising, while also documenting what he described as the rise and fall of the previous 16-year government.

The upper floor contains personal belongings, audio recordings, videos and photographs related to the July uprising and its participants. The lower floor documents experiences of enforced disappearances, killings and other forms of violence under the previous government, alongside memories of the BDR massacre and testimonies and reconstructions related to the Aynaghar.

He stressed that the museum remains a work in progress, with new stories, materials and perspectives continuing to be collected and incorporated.

The museum has also been developed as a venue for seminars, talks, discussions and cultural programmes. According to Wahab, thousands of visitors, including large numbers of school students, visit the museum every day.

Tanzim Wahab also spoke about plans and challenges surrounding the museum. Among the proposed initiatives was a ‘healing room’, intended as a quiet and supportive space for people affected by years of loss, violence and trauma. Although the idea has not yet been implemented, discussions on it are continuing.

He also discussed debates over the scope of the museum. During the interim government’s tenure, there was a proposal to include a section on Felani’s killing and other border killings.

However, questions arose over whether such incidents, which have continued since 1971, should be presented within a museum primarily focused on the previous 16 years. The proposal was eventually dropped.

Security remains another concern, Wahab said, noting that current arrangements are inadequate given the sensitivity of the museum’s collection.

Many of the young students and researchers involved in developing the museum continue to work as volunteers without formal appointments, leaving questions about the long-term protection of documents, testimonies and exhibits.

In his concluding remarks, Wahab described the museum as an evolving project and said the 17-acre site could develop into a stronger national memorial with more staff, better planning and the addition of new themes and initiatives.

The lecture was delivered in Bengali and streamed live on Drik Picture Library’s Facebook page.