Arts-&-Culture
Majestic Silks of Bangladesh Exhibition by Maheen Khan: Fashion in silk gets the heritage touch
Showcasing the rich history of Bangladesh's illustrious silk industry as well as efforts to support and promote local designs, a three-day exclusive solo fashion exhibition titled ‘Majestic Silks of Bangladesh Exhibition by Maheen Khan’, is currently underway at the Nordic Club, Gulshan in the capital.
The solo design exhibition began on Tuesday (December 27, 2022), featuring some of the unique designs of eminent Bangladeshi fashion designer Maheen Khan, the founding president of the Fashion Design Council of Bangladesh (FDCB) and the founding managing director of Mayasir, a trend-setting brand that emphasizes the nation's traditional embroidery.
Sharing her motifs and visions with UNB regarding her major solo exhibition in a long time, Maheen Khan said that this event is proudly showcasing some of the exclusive, handmade crafts as a befitting tribute to the country’s majestic silks.
Read more: BGMEA, Fashion Design Council to promote khadi globally
For People and Planet: New cookbook with insights into carbon footprint of each dish
Crab cakes made with fonio, an ancient West African grain, or Ratatouille prepared with "imperfect" produce to reduce food waste, are only a couple of the over 70 recipes included in a recently launched cookbook with climate-friendly and delicious recipes.
The Cookbook in Support of the United Nations: For People and Planet" is divided into chapters that include food systems, biodiversity, sustainable consumption and production, climate, as well as food waste, providing recipes, yes, but also insights into the carbon footprint of each dish.
Renowned chefs such as UN World Food Programme (WFP) Goodwill Ambassador Chef Manal Al Alem, and Chef José Andres, as well as indigenous home cooks and farmers from around the world, have contributed to the book.
The book is the brainchild of Kitchen Connection, an organisation that for a decade has been bridging together culinary arts, sustainability and education, and driving the discussions on the need for a food systems transformation.
"We found that those in the highest-emitting countries in the world emit through our food choices about 3 kilograms of CO2 emissions per meal. The recipes in this book have 58.6 percent less carbon compared to an average meal from high-emitting regions of the world," Kitchen Connection founder and New York University Professor Earlene Cruz, told UN News.
The cookbook also highlights and follows the World Health Organization's macronutrient guidelines, making the recipes not only healthy for the planet, but also for everyone.
But most of all, it puts a spotlight on how important people's food choices are and how they can impact their immediate environment, no matter where they cook.
Cruz said: "Whether we're in cities, in suburban or rural areas, or somewhere as remote as Antarctica, consideration of our food choices and how they impact our immediate environment is paramount."
Read more: Activists target Salt Bae’s upscale London steakhouse
Group art exhibition begins at Zainul Gallery in Dhaka University
A group exhibition named “Japan & Bangladesh – A Group Art Exhibition” has begun at the Zainul Gallery, the University of Dhaka.
The exhibition is jointly organized by Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh, the Department of Drawing and Painting, the University of Dhaka and sponsored by bKash Ltd.
DU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Md. Aktaruzzaman, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh MACHIDA Tatsuya inaugurated the exhibition.
Read more: Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebrated in Dubai with ‘Bijoy Art Exhibition’
Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebrated in Dubai with ‘Bijoy Art Exhibition’
Funun Arts Group along with Mahfuz Canvas from Bangladesh organised “Bijoy”, an artistic celebration of 51st Victory Day of Bangladesh, on December 12 at Dubai International Art Center.
This exhibition proclaimed the message of tolerance and unity with which nations should build a safe and secure future for their coming generations.
“Bijoy” featured sixty original artworks from Bangladesh. Most of the artists visited the UAE as part of the exhibition and others sent their artworks to be exhibited.
Read more: Spirit of Victory Day imbues celebrations at home and abroad
Artists from twenty nationalities, who are residents of UAE also joined them in exhibiting unique and spectacular artistic pieces on the theme of love, peace, harmony, and togetherness.
Consul General of Bangladesh in Dubai and the Northern Emirates B.M. Jamal Hossain inaugurated this mega art event while eminent personalities were present on the occasion.
Appreciating Funun Arts and Mahfuz Canvas along with the title sponsor, PowerPac, for oganising the exhibition, Jamal Hossain said this will mark the beginning of a new era where art, ideologies, and perspectives merge in creating a better world for posterity.
“Art is beyond all boundaries, and we are using art to bring people together in this wonderful land,” said Shiba Khan, Founder and CEO of Funun Arts.
PowerPac (a concern of Sikder Group) was the title sponsor of this event.
Exhibition with rare photos of Bangladesh’s birth, Bangabandhu to open tomorrow
In the month of victory, Samdani Art Foundation and Centre for Research and Information (CRI) are showcasing never-before-seen images by renowned photographer Anne de Henning that highlight and celebrate Bangladesh’s indomitable courage during the Liberation War against Pakistani occupation forces. The exhibition, titled ‘Witnessing History in the Making: Photographs by Anne de Henning’, is set to open tomorrow.
The exhibition will be open to visitors at Dhaka’s Liberation War Museum from December 15 to December 24. The presence of Anne de Henning and a tour by the veteran French photographer through her exhibition is a special attraction.
Already earning global acclamation and covered by leading international media outlets, the exhibition drew praises in France earlier. “So intense and so fragile” is how Forbes magazine described the exhibit.
Traveling through the country during the Liberation War, Henning’s photographs captured life in the war zone – from freedom fighters, to men, women and children boarding refugee trains and fleeing from their villages.
On her second visit to the country, her photographs from 1972 feature Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who, all his life, worked to decolonize the nation from British and Pakistani rule and move towards democracy and freedom. Images of Mujib were systematically destroyed after the coup of 1975 and Henning’s surviving colour photographs are among the few known to still exist.
“There's a leader from the subcontinent who led his country to independence based on very progressive ideals of a secular, equal country for all,” said Radwan Mujib Siddiq, grandson of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a trustee of CRI, expressing his views about the photographs.
“The whole of Bangladesh got behind him, they fought a war against all odds, and Bangladesh emerged independent,” he said.
Henning’ captured Bangabandhu giving a speech at the first Council Meeting of Awami League after the independence of Bangladesh. “I came specifically from Calcutta to photograph the event,” she said. Although at the time she favoured shooting in black and white, she chose to capture this event in colour because of the vibrant blue, white and red stripes of the shamiyana — ceremonial tent — that housed the event.
Centre for Research and Information (CRI) and Samdani Art Foundation will also hold “Let’s Talk with Anne de Henning: Memories of Bangladesh in War and Peace” on December 17, 2022. At the session, Henning will share her experience of capturing images during the Liberation War in 1971 and the post-war country in 1972.
Anne De Henning was one of the first photojournalists to enter Bangladesh during the war. She came back again in 1972, to photograph the man whose name she heard many times during the war, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Henning will be visiting Bangladesh after 50 years.
Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh 2022: Participating foreign artists visit Gallery Cosmos
Gallery Cosmos, an exclusive art space dedicated to enriching the perception and appreciation of contemporary Bangladeshi art and one of the most prominent art galleries in Dhaka, hosted an exclusive meet-up and dinner for the participating artists of the ongoing 19th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh 2022 on Sunday night.
Over 150 prominent artists from the participating 114 countries, including Bangladesh, and officials from Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy visited Gallery Cosmos and Cosmos Atelier-71 printmaking studio at the Cosmos Centre in Dhaka’s Malibagh as part of the event.
Read more: 'BRAVEHEART’: Gallery Cosmos pays rich artistic tribute to Bangabandhu
Enayetullah Khan, prominent Bangladeshi entrepreneur, journalist, author and patron of arts and Founder-Managing Director of the Cosmos Group and Chairman of Cosmos Foundation, joined the event alongside Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, former Foreign Advisor of Bangladesh and President of Cosmos Foundation; Daniela Mariana Sezonov Tane, Ambassador of Romania to India; Romanian artist-sculptor Alexandru Poteca; Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Director of Fine Arts Syeda Mahbuba Karim Mini and other distinguished personalities.
Photo exhibition 'Prottasha: Hope for Migrants' to be held in Dhaka Tuesday
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) will organize a photo exhibition titled “Prottasha: Hope for Migrants” on Tuesday to raise awareness and to persuade the masses about sustainable reintegration, safe migration and migration governance.
Storytelling is an effective tool to inform and make people aware of the issues of safe migration, sustainable reintegration, and migration governance.
The exhibition will bring together a range of migration-related stories to help us understand the complex experience and contextualize some of the opportunities and challenges of migration in Bangladesh.
read more: Swift return of irregular migrants to help promote legal migration: European Commissioner
It will also help understand migration and its complexities, said the IOM on Monday.
Besides, the stories will present the impact and results of the work on safe migration and sustainable reintegration of returning migrants under the Prottasha project.
The photo exhibition will remain open to all at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Tuesday from 3pm to 7pm
In addition, an infotainment show featuring pot songs, song performances, short films, and quizzes will be organized during the event.
read more: Migrant workers’ rights: UN expert for monitoring recruitment process
The photo exhibition is being organized under the European Union funded ‘Bangladesh: Sustainable Reintegration and Improved Migration Governance (Prottasha) project.
Since 2017, IOM has implemented the project, under the guidance of the Government of Bangladesh and in partnership with BRAC.
55 Bangladeshi self-taught artists to join Victory Day art exhibition in Dubai
To celebrate the 51st Victory Day of Bangladesh, 55 Bangladeshi and 20 international artists will participate in a special group art exhibition at Dubai International Art Center (DIAC) in the UAE from December 12 to 21.
The 10-day art exhibition, "Bijoy" is organised by Funun Arts of the UAE and Mahfuz Canvas of Bangladesh.
The participating self-taught artists will showcase their work, depicting that art is beyond borders, according to the organisers.
Read: ‘Evolution’: Abdullah Al Bashir’s second solo exhibition begins at AFD
The Consul General of Bangladesh in Dubai and the Northern Emirates BM Jamal Hossain and Emirati entrepreneur and Chairman of Al Zarooni Foundation Suhail Mohd Al Zarooni, a renowned Emirati collector and Guinness Book World Record holder, will inaugurate the art event.
PowerPac, a concern of Sikder Group, is the title sponsor of the exhibition.
"We are proud to sponsor this special tribute exhibition to the Victory of Bangladesh, with a specific focus on encouraging artists to improve their creations by giving them a global platform and encouraging them to honour the cultures of Bangladesh and history through their artworks," according to PowerPac.
Read: Photo exhibition by Mongol Deep Foundation begins in city
Mahfuzur Rahman, the founder of Mahfuz Canvas, said this endeavour is their greatest international achievement yet, and this is the largest overseas self-taught Bangladeshi artists' art exhibition to date.
Shiba Khan and Farah Khan, founders of Funun Arts, one of the most vibrant art platforms in the UAE, said they aim to represent art and bring talents to light. "Artists are also given complete freedom to present themselves in their ways."
French baguettes, Chinese traditional tea-making added to world heritage list
The artisanal knowledge surrounding France's iconic daily bread loaf, the baguette and traditional tea-making in China have been awarded special protected status by the UN's cultural body.
They were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during a meeting this week in Morocco's Rabat.
Read more: Vietnam keen to work for development of Sylhet tea industry
Also, the culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking was placed on a list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.
The inscription of the baguette, one of the quintessential staples of French life, on the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Intangible Cultural Heritage list honours the artisanal know-how and culture surrounding the loaf.
A real baguette has just four ingredients – flour, water, yeast and salt.
France's long, crusty and delicious loaf bread requires specific knowledge and techniques. It is baked throughout the day in small batches and the outcomes vary according to the temperature and humidity.
16-days of activism: Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka conducts tree plantation, rickshaw rally in the city
As part of its ongoing ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign against gender-based violence, Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka conducted a handful of activities on Monday in the capital's Baridhara.
The activities included tree plantation in the Baridhara Lake Park, which was followed by a special rickshaw rally.
Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka executives and members joined the activities alongside the local rickshaw pullers wearing orange dresses, as a unity against violence against women and children.
Read more: Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka launches 16-days activism campaign against gender-based violence