United News of Bangladesh

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.

Indian contemporary art maestro Jogen Chowdhury's solo painting exhibition "Reminiscence of Dreams," which began on May 27, is still underway at the Arcadia Arts Gallery in Dhaka's Banani. The exhibition is showcasing more than 100 works of the "Banga Bibhushan" winning artist, also professor emeritus at Kala Bhavana at the Visva Bharati, Santiniketan in West Bengal. The exhibition is featuring artworks divided into different mediums, including drawing and painting with dry pastel, pen, charcoal, brush and ink; printmaking works such as woodcut, etching, serigraph; mixed media on paper, watercolour and more. Painter-cartoonist Rafiqun Nabi and Bangladeshi-Spanish artist Monirul Islam jointly inaugurated the exhibition. Dhaka University Faculty of Fine Art Dean Nisar Hossain and Indian independent art curator Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya joined the event as special guests. Jogen was born in the village Daharpara in Bangladesh's Faridpur district in 1939. Along with his father, the artist went to Calcutta just before the partition of 1947 while the rest of his family went there in 1948. READ: British Council brings exhibition “BANGLA” for local art connoisseurs He enrolled in the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata in 1955 and earned his degree there in 1960. After that, Jogen went to Paris in 1965 to study at the Atelier 17 of William Hayter at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1968, he returned to India and started working as a professor of painting at Kala Bhavana in Santiniketan in 1987. Along with his many paintings and shows, he has written extensively about modern art and served as a jury member at several exhibitions.

A three-week photo exhibition titled "Amra Rohingya" or "We are Rohingya" organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in partnership with the Liberation War Museum (LWM) began on Sunday at the Temporary Gallery of LWM, Agargaon in the capital.The exhibition is taking place to mark this year's World Refugee Day, showcasing photos taken by Rohingya refugees and allowing for an intimate look into what life is like for people living in the largest refugee camp in the world.Based on the Rohingyatographer magazine showcasing the photographs of ten talented Rohingya artists living in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, this exhibit allows visitors to learn more about the individuals who have found refuge in Bangladesh, after fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar. Read: Rohingyas to stage demo on SundayThis photographic exhibition explores themes of memory, hope, dreams, faith, beauty, craftsmanship, grief, loss, and love among the Rohingya refugees through 50 photographs.Curated by David Palazón, Sahat Zia Hero, Amena Khatun and supported by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the exhibition features photography by Sahat Zia Hero, Ro Yassin Abdumonaf, Shahida Win, Azimul Hasson, Md Jamal, Abdullah Khin Maung Thein, Hujjat Ullah, Enayat Khan, Md Iddris and Omal Kahir.Additionally, 11 photographs from the Liberation War Museum archives have generously been included, showing the lives and stories of Bangladeshi nationals, who in 1971 were forced to flee and live as refugees, during the Liberation War.

Showcasing the fifty year legacy of uniquely designed old Bangladeshi furniture, Brihatta Art Foundation has lifted the curtain on ‘Sthiti: Objects in Conversation’ on Saturday at its Mukti curatorial space at Mukti Tannery-1, Hazaribagh Tannery area in the capital. Featuring 33 unique and diverse pieces of furniture made by 17 artists, architects, artisans and designers symbolizing different stories, emotions and memories and emotions, the exhibition is the first design exhibition in the country that is highlighting the cultural consequences of furniture as a design object. With the determination to start a new dialogue behind the scenes regarding the craftsmanship of the furniture, the eccentric exhibition is jointly curated by Bangladeshi artist-art educator-curator and Brihatta co-founder Bishwajit Goswami, Korean-American architect and designer Diane Rhyu Taylor and US-based interior architect-interior stylist Ulrike Fellner.

Emphasizing the importance of drawing in the realm of postmodern arts, Gallery Cosmos organized the second edition of its exclusive daylong art event titled “The Passion of Drawing - 2” on Saturday at the Garden Gallery, Baridhara in the capital. Six leading artistic stalwarts of the country including freedom fighter-painter Biren Shome, eminent indigenous artist Kanak Chanpa Chakma, art maestro Farida Zaman, veteran painter Abdus Shakoor Shah, contemporary artist Anukul Mojumder, and young artist Abdullah Al Bashir participated in this daylong event, showcasing their talent through live drawing sketches. The second edition of this special event was supervised by Gallery Cosmos Director Tehmina Enayet and joined by a large number of eminent and influential personalities from home and beyond, including the Norwegian ambassador in Dhaka Espen Rikter-Svendsen. Read: Gallery Cosmos to host 'The Passion of Drawing-2' on Saturday From 11 am to 3 pm, the artists participated in live drawing sessions by drawing a florist woman, Kulsum, who makes garlands at the Shahbagh intersection and a local rickshaw-puller, Mohammad Belal, as the live models on their respective canvases. Accompanied by the majestic tune of flautist and artist Shamol Bishwas, the artists used charcoal, pencil, pastel, acrylic and mixed mediums on their canvases for projecting the live drawings. After the sessions, the artists till 8 pm interacted with prominent and enthusiastic art admirers who came to visit the event and celebrate the togetherness of art and nature at the Garden Gallery’s beautiful, picturesque venue.

ActionAid's two-day festival – organised to celebrate the resilience of communities of Bangladesh and the country's glorious heritage, culture, and traditions – ended Friday in Dhaka. The event "Festival of Resilience: People, Planet and Possibilities" aimed to encourage celebration and participation among communities in recognition of their stories of resilience. For decades, the people of Bangladesh have faced countless challenges, such as climate and human-induced disasters, inequalities, economic instability, refugee crisis and pandemic. But every time, the mass bounced back with the power of resilience and survived with renewed vigour. Read: ActionAid to celebrate Bangladeshi resilience, cultural heritage A very recent example would be the last two years, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the collective effort of the people of this country helped communities stay hopeful and agile. To celebrate the innate quality and resilience of people, ActionAid Bangladesh organised the festival. Through a wide and immersive range of activities, the festival helped celebrate the people, their strength, joy, and solidarity. Key attractions of the opening day included a performance by Happy Home girls; the inauguration of exhibition and kiosks; opening dialogue on the "Multi-dimensional perspective of resilience."

Here's some good news for art lovers out there. Gallery Cosmos is organising an exclusive art event -- 'The Passion of Drawing-2' -- on Saturday at the Garden Gallery in Dhaka's Baridhara. The event is intended to celebrate the universal and jovial artistic pleasure of drawing, according to Gallery Cosmos executive artistic manager Sourav Chowdhury. As one of the introductory activities of humans across the world, drawing accompanies an artist forever.  Also read: Noted artists celebrate Spring at ‘The Passion of Drawing’ by Gallery Cosmos To celebrate the essence of drawing in this mesmerising monsoon, Gallery Cosmos is hosting this second edition of this exclusive art event, titled 'The Passion of Drawing-2', with a celebratory vision to explore the innate and everlasting connection between humans and nature. Six leading and promising artists of the country will participate in this event. These stalwart artists are Biren Shome, Farida Zaman, Abdus Shakoor Shah, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Anukul Mojumder and Abdullah Al Bashir. Also read: Cosmos dialogue on Dhaka-Jakarta ties to premiere on Wednesday These prominent artists will participate in drawing sessions and interact with audiences over their respective paintings. The drawings will also be put on display simultaneously for the audience.

Featuring captivating artworks made by 105 amateur artists, a group exhibition titled “The Magical Brush" returned with its second season at the Safiuddin Shilpalay, Dhanmondi in the capital on Monday. Art patron Mahfuz Canvas is presenting the second season of "The Magical Brush," the flagship exhibition of youth group AllStar, which is co-sponsored by Moon Calligraphy. The exhibition was inaugurated by 2022 Ekushey Padak winner and renowned actor, director, writer and painter Afzal Hossain, who lauded the flamboyant effort of the amateur artists. “Back when we first commenced our creative journeys, our passion propelled us forward, and we were fortunate to have the support of some amazing, understanding souls.  Nowadays, all we see is people snatching opportunities from one another, which is why this exhibition impressed me as unique because of the artistic collaboration between the artists and the organizers.” Afzal Hossain said as the chief guest. READ: Curtain falls on indeginous artists’ exhibition

Portraying the scenic and picturesque beauty of Rangamati through refreshing artworks, a group exhibition titled ‘Weaving Art of the Hills’ came to its closure on Saturday night. Inaugurated on May 21, the closing ceremony of the group exhibition was held at the Abinta Gallery of Fine Arts, Badda in the capital, joined by Dipankar Takulder, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Ministry of Food, as the chief guest. Abul Khair Litu, the Chairperson of Bengal Foundation, eminent artist Abul Barq Alvi, and noted actor and activist Sara Zaker joined the event as special guests. Read: Bashir Ahmed Sujan's solo panoramic photography exhibition begins at AFD The event was also joined by eminent photographer and artist Nasir Ali Mamun, art maestro professor Farida Zaman, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Fine Arts director Syeda Mahbuba Karim and more. Organized by the Abinta Gallery alongside Ethnic Artists Forum, a platform for indigenious artists to express their views and thoughts towards art and culture, the exhibition displayed a total of 65 artworks made by 44 indigenious artists including Mong Mong Sho, Lumbiny Dewan, Mong Shonie Rakhine, Jayatu Chakma and more. The majority of the participating artists in this exhibition were students from several universities' Faculty of Fine Arts and Fine Arts Colleges, who represented several ethnic groups such as Marma, Rakhine, Chakma, Tripura, Garo, Hajong, Koch, and Manipuri. Read: Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, HerStory Foundation present The Myth Bridge The artists' use of vibrant colors in depicting their thought-provoking artistic narratives, portraying the realest and often unseen beauty of Rangamati, was lauded by the guests at the closing ceremony. They also praised the artists for depicting their thought-provoking artistic narratives through vivid colors, portraying the realest and often unseen beauty of Rangamati. With 85 young and talented artists, the Ethnic Artist Forum began its journey in 2019, founded by prominent indigenous painter Kanak Chanpa Chakma. 50 of these artists took part in an exclusive art camp in Rangamati in August 2019, and the artworks in this exhibition were created during that camp. However, due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the exhibition could not take place in 2020 and the following year.  

Showcasing the scenic beauty of the hills and mountain regions of Rangamati and various means of subsistence of the locals and their customs, an exclusive group exhibition titled ‘Weaving Art of the Hills’ is currently being held at the Abinta Gallery of Fine Arts in the capital. Organized by the Abinta Gallery alongside Ethnic Artists Forum, a platform for indigenious artists to express their views and thoughts towards art and culture, the exhibition was inaugurated on May 21. Joined by Secretary (West) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury, renowned artist and art-maestro Professor Mustafa Monwar, Turkish Ambassador in Dhaka Mustafa Osman Turan and Managing Director at Berger Paints Bangladesh Ltd Rupali Chowdhury as the guest of honor, the exhibition was presided by the Chairperson of Abinta Gallery of Fine Arts Nilu Rowshon Murshed. Also read: Bashir Ahmed Sujan's solo panoramic photography exhibition begins at AFD