Several renowned cultural organisations hosted various events across the country to celebrate the 52nd Victory Day of Bangladesh with festivities. Organisations and institutions, namely Bangla Academy, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), Chhayanaut, Liberation War Museum (LWM), Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi and others hosted cultural shows and discussions at different venues on Friday and Saturday. The festivities in the city began with a three-day ‘Bijoymela’ organised by Bangla Academy on December 15 at its Nazrul Mancha. State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid inaugurated the event, which was comprised of a seminar on December 15 at the Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium. Bangla Academy staff alongside its Director General poet Nurul Huda placed floral wreaths at the National Martyrs Memorial on Victory Day, and the ‘Bijoymela’ was concluded on Saturday. Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) staff and artistes also placed floral wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Memorial and organised several cultural events throughout Friday. The cultural shows comprised patriotic songs, recitations, dance and a special performance segment with child artists at the Nandan Mancha on the BSA, featuring child artistes from Sporsho Braille, and a dance recital by differently abled children’s troupe Karishma Cultural Group. Returning after two years since its maiden edition in 2015, cultural institution Chhayanaut organised a programme at the Dhaka University Central Playground featuring solo and group songs, recitations and dance recitals. The event was on a hiatus due to Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and Dhaka University Birth Centenary events in 2021.  Read more: Cultural orgs celebrate Victory Day amid festivities Chhayanaut artistes performed eight group songs and two solo songs compiled with dance recitals, and recitations by Jayanto Chattopadhyay at the event. The festivity concluded at 4:31 pm with a group song performance along with the audience, marking the exact moment when the Pakistan Military surrendered to the allied forces of Bangladesh and India in 1971.

Cultural institution Chhayanaut has postponed the event to celebrate the rainy season, named after its founding president eminent poet Sufia Kamal, after taking stock of the Covid-19 situation in the country. The event was scheduled to take place Friday at the Chhayanaut Sangskriti Bhaban in the capital's Dhanmondi and be broadcast on Chhayanaut's official Facebook page and YouTube channel. The event "Sufia Kamal Smarok Borshar Onushthan" (Sufia Kamal Memorial Monsoon Celebration) was initiated to mark the 111th birth anniversary of the legendary poet. READ: Chhayanaut pays tribute to Rabindra Sangeet legend Mita Haque "Due to the recent surge in the Covid-19 case test positivity rate, the Sufia Kamal Memorial Monsoon Celebration which was scheduled to be held Friday, Ashar 10, 1429, has been postponed," Chhayanaut General Secretary Laisa Ahmed Lisa said. "We plan to organise this event next month, the Bengali month of Shraban, if the situation improves." Sufia Kamal established Chhayanaut at the end of 1961.

After a long Covid-induced hiatus, leading cultural organisation Chhayanaut will welcome back live audiences to its Dhanmondi auditorium with its traditional music festival on Thursday. The two-day festival -- Shuddhasangeet Utsab 1428 -- will be held at the auditorium of Chhayanaut Sangskriti Bhaban in the capital's Dhanmondi area. This year's festival has been dedicated to Chhayanaut Sangeet Bidyayatan teachers, Madan Gopal Das and Satindranath Halder. Read: Chhayanaut pays tribute to Rabindra Sangeet legend Mita Haque The festival is set to welcome the listeners at 4.30 pm on Thursday. Noted music maestroes and singers, including Khairul Anam Shakil, Rezoan Ali, Shekhar Mandal and Abhijit Kundu, will perform at the festival on Thursday till 10.30 pm. On Friday, the first session of the concluding day's programme will begin at 9 am and continue till 12 pm, which will feature the performances of Alauddin Miah, Bijan Chandra Mistry and more. The second and concluding session will be held from 4.30 pm till 10.30 pm, featuring Asit Dey, Arpita Chakrabarti and others. Read: Chhayanaut cancels Pahela Baishakh festivities at Ramna, goes back to virtual celebration with BTV Chhayanaut restricted its all in-house live events back in early 2020 when Covid-19 first hit Bangladesh. It has been broadcasting different cultural programmes on its Facebook group and YouTube channel since then.

Country's prominent cultural institution Chhayanaut arranged an online cultural tribute on Saturday night, in respect of late Ekushey Padak winning late Rabindra Sangeet singer Mita Haque. Titled 'He Bhubonomohini', the virtual programme broadcasted on Chhayanaut's Facebook group and YouTube channel, was a collective tribute including remembrance talks, recitations and song performances of noted artists and cultural personalities towards Haque, who was Chhayanaut's one of the integral parts through her lifelong bonding with the Institution. The singer, who was also the unit head of the Department of Rabindra Sangeet at Chhayanaut, passed away on April 11 after losing her battle with COVID-19. Chhayanaut Secretary General Laisa Ahmed Lisa opened the programme with her introductory remembrance speech, which was followed by other noted solo speakers including Chhayanaut President Sanjida Khatun, artist Nasehun Ameen, Liberation War Museum trustee Mofidul Hoque, artist Sushmita Ahmed Borna, Asim Dutta, Mohua Monjuri Sunanda, Hasan Arif, Sharmila Bandopadhyay, Bulbul Islam, Enamul Haque Omar, Ahmad Mazhar, Bangladesh Women's Federation President Dr Fouzia Moslem, Durbadal Chattopadhyay and former Minister for Cultural Affairs and eminent thespian Asaduzzaman Noor. "Mita was surprisingly active with strong personality since her childhood whom I never saw getting stumbled in her ways. She was my brother-in-law's daughter, so I got to see her thriving through every barrier of learning, as she was always a natural learner," Chhayanaut President Sanjida Khatun lauded Mita Haque, sharing some of her fond memories regarding music with the talented artist. Also read: Eminent Rabindra Sangeet singer Mita Haque passes away "As an active cultural organizer throughout her life, Mita was naturally possessed with personality and individualism. She was flamboyant, she was a natural performer and organizer, and we have always been inspired through her activities," Liberation War Museum trustee Mofidul Hoque spoke highly on her skills and activities as an organizer and one of the lifelong companions of Chhayanaut. Eminent thespian and former Minister of Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Noor reminisced the Rabindra Sangeet maestro, saying: "Mita was already a family friend, and our bonding got even stronger after her marriage with Khaled Khan who was a pioneer thespian. She was a thriving force behind establishing an enriched cultural practice in Bangladesh, and her contribution will forever be remembered through her admirers, colleagues and us." The event also showcased some of the notable performances of the late Rabindra Sangeet maestro, alongside poetry recitals and song presentations of her cultural colleagues. Artists including Mita Haque's daughter Farhin Khan Jayeeta, alongside artists Sushmita Ahmed Borna, Abhaya Dutta, Iffat Ara Dewan, Bulbul Islam, Sharmeen Sathee Islam, ATM Jahangir, Tania Mannan, Khairul Anam Shakil, Elora Ahmed Shukla, Suman Chowdhury, and Laisa Ahmed Lisa performed several songs from the genres of Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Sangeet and others. Born into a musical family on September 6, 1962, the noted artiste received her musical training from maestros including her paternal uncle and late musicologist Waheedul Haq, current Chhayanaut president Sanjida Khatun and musician Ustad Mohammad Hossain Khan, to name a few. She has been a regular performer in the Bangladesh TV and radio since 1977 and was one of the top-ranked performers of both National Radio and Television Besides her esteemed singing career, Mita Haque was the founder director and teacher of her music school Shurotirtha. She has served as the head of the Department of Rabindra Sangeet at Chhayanaut, Dhaka and also as the former general secretary and incumbent vice-president of the Rabindra Sangeet Shommelon Parishad. For her remarkable contribution to the music industry, she was conferred with Ekushey Padak in 2020 and the Rabindra Puraskar from Bangla Academy in 2017.

The excitement and ethusiasm for the birth anniversary celebrations of Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh, have been subdued this year too due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tuesday marks the 122nd birth anniversary of the revolutionary poet, considered one of the greatest literary figures in the history of Bengali literature. To observe the glorious day amid festivities, several government organisations and different cultural platforms have chalked out separate programmes with cultural performances and discussions based on the life and works of Nazrul.  Read: Chhayanaut's 4-day virtual tribute to Nazrul concludes Covid has led several organisations -- Bangladesh Nazrul Sangeet Sangstha, Kabi Nazrul Institute, Chhayanaut, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) and Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) -- to arrange the events virtually. Some chose to follow the traditional route. On behalf of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, State Minister KM Khalid placed a floral wreath on the grave of Kazi Nazrul on the Dhaka University campus in the morning. Office-bearers of Bangla Academy, Kabi Nazrul Institute, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy followed suit. Bangladesh Television (BTV) aired a recorded programme marking the occasion. The programme was later aired by several private news channels. Kabi Nazrul Institute arranged a discussion and cultural event in the morning, which was chaired by National Professor Rafiqul Islam, Chairman of the Kabi Nazrul Institute Trustee Board and the newly appointed Chairman of Bangla Academy. Read:Bangla Academy Director General Habibullah Sirajee passes away The event took place at the seminar hall of Kabi Nazrul Institute and was joined by Khilkhil Kazi, a member of the Kabi Nazrul Institute Trustee Board and granddaughter of the poet. The Institute will also air a documentary on the revered poet at 7 pm on its Facebook page.  An hour later, Chhayanaut will broadcast a special cultural programme, titled Shantir Joy Hok, on its YouTube channel and Facebook page, featuring its noted performers. Similarly, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is scheduled to stream a cultural programme live on its official Facebook page at 3 pm. Bangladesh Nazrul Sangeet Sangstha will stream a live cultural programme, titled Durjoy Moha Ahoban Tobo, on its Facebook page at 7 pm. Read: Jaago Nari: Arnob's tryst with Nazrul geeti IGCC is set to organise a special event, titled 'Nazrul Jayanti-2021: A Humble Tribute to Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam on his Birth Anniversary' with performances by renowned artists of India and Bangladesh. This event will be streamed live on its Facebook page at 7.30 pm. Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University (JKKNIU) in Trishal, Mymensingh, is organising a three-day virtual event to celebrate the birth anniversary of the national poet from May 25 to May 27, scheduled to be aired from its official Facebook page.  Besides, other cultural bodies are observing the day with discussions and cultural activities across the country. 

Country's leading cultural institute Chhayanaut organized a special virtual event on Saturday commemorating the 200th birth anniversary of legendary Indian educator and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

The country's leading musical institution Chhayanaut will host a four-day online classical music event from Wednesday.

Abul Hasnat, renowned journalist, former vice-president of Chhayanaut, director of Bengal Publications and editor of monthly Kali o Kalam magazine, passed away on Sunday morning at a city hospital at the age of 75.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das on Wednesday handed over two school buses to Nalanda Uchcha Vidyalaya in a virtual ceremony.

Chhayanaut, country’s leading cultural institution,  paid their tributes to Rabindranath Tagore on his 159th birth anniversary through its official YouTube channel on Friday.