It is all there, just as it was in King Ramkhamhaeng’s day, the very essence of that special spirit the Thais call sa-nuak. Thirteen-century history wakes up for a night and then goes into hibernation for a year The ceaseless pursuit of sanuk or fun in Thailand guarantees a plenitude of delightful festivals and fairs…
Goethe-Institut, Dhaka January, 2004 The photography exhibition titled Man Without Qualities by Matthias Wähner sure made the mind spin. With the help of the computer Wähner has placed his own portraits in scenes of historical, political and social importance. His is not just a quixotic trick involving camera and computer work but stems from a…
The World Press Photo (WPP) ’03 exhibition held at the Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi was important on two counts. Shahidul Alam, Managing Director of Drik, became the first Asian as well as Bangladeshi to be made the chair of the jury that judged photographs for the main event. And for the first time, a previously…
Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka January, 2004 Mohammed Eunus’ works are semi-abstract in appearance but do not fail to reflect the bleakness of the time we are passing through. He does a lot of minimisation in his works but if one looks deeply forms can still be found. ‘I feel that realistic work is…
Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka December, 2003 Mohammad Fokhrul Islam’s creations don’t necessarily depict him fully. ‘For me painting or creating a work of art is the simplest way to express my feelings, emotions and love. When I try to prove myself as an artist and I fail to create an art form, it…
Gallery Chitrak Dhaka December, 2003 Abdul Muqtadir’s canvas captures not only the intimate dimensions of the visible world but also the means of communication with the world. ‘Yet, in me,’ declares the artist, ‘is a yearning to know what lies behind the tactile world.’ There is a compulsion in him, he says, to explore the…
Bangladesh has been famous for centuries for its unique festivals and ceremonies. Although most of these are religious in nature, there are also seasonal celebrations of a cultural or secular character, where people participate spontaneously, irrespective of religion, caste, creed and social class. Such occasions reflect the shared and composite cultural values of the people.…
Recent Biennales have begun to assume a more ‘global’ approach, that is to say, an approach that plays down regional considerations in search of more authentic artistic engagements with our time and the experiences of living in an increasingly polarized and violent world It started in 1981–and unlike many things Bangladeshi, has been taking place…
In James Robertson’s brilliant novel Joseph Knight (2003), three Edinburgh lawyers, one fine afternoon in the late summer of 1776, stroll through the park by Holyrood Palace and ascend thence to the summit of Arthur’s Seat, the huge hill which dominates eastward views from the city. ‘Below them the city was spread out in the…
Every art form has its own tradition of festivals, and cinema is no exception. Film festivals are a celebration of cinema, a means of bringing together makers and takers, viewers and reviewers for a buffet sampling of films from far-flung lands and diverse cultures. Side by side with the sheer joy of immersion in cinema,…
