Return of the Photography extravaganza
The eighth edition of Chobi Mela, the biggest photography festival of Asia, is all set to begin on January 23, 2015. Organised by Drik Picture Library Limited and Pathshala South Asian Media Academy, the biennial festival brings photographers, experts and connoisseurs from all over the globe for a two-week extravaganza of exhibitions, artist talks, workshops and much more.
The festival, themed “Intimacy” this time, will run till February 5, and feature works of 30 artists of 22 countries.
The announcements came from a press conference at the Drik Gallery yesterday. Speaking there, festival director Shahidul Alam said “It's time for Bangladesh to be proud of its originality. The whole world's eyes are on us, and we have to be prepared accordingly.”
Also speaking there, ASM Rezaur Rahman, one of the curators of the festival, said “The festival not only gives us the scope to watch the exceptional works of nationally and internationally reputed photographers, but also brings forward the social issues connected to our identity.”
The high profile guests at the festival will include Magnum Photographer Larry Towell, Editor of the New York Times Lens Blog James Estrin, legendary Bangladeshi photographer Anwar Hossain,
World Press Photo contest winner Denis Dailleux, Shirin Neshat, and Simon Norfolk who will share their works and experiences through portfolio review and talks. World Press Photo jury and pioneer in Indian advertisement photography aesthetics, Swapan Parekh will conduct a workshop titled “Shaping a Vision”, Teun van der Heijden (of Hayden's Karwei) will be in Bangladesh for the first time, conducting a workshop on “The Photobook: Going Beyond the Form”, and Spanish photographer Cristina Nuñez will conduct “The Self Portrait Experience”. A total of 10 workshops will be spread throughout the festival for photographers and artists.
A total of 32 print shows and a video projection will be spread across six galleries of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy; two galleries each at Drik, Alliance Francaise and the Daily Star-Bengal Arts Precinct; National Museum; Bokultola of Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University; Britto Arts Trust; Beauty Boarding, Northbrok Hall and Bulbul Lalitkala Academy. All the exhibitions are free for all. The rickshaw-van exhibition, carrying miniature versions of all the exhibits -- a trademark of Chobi Mela, will travel the streets of Dhaka, taking photography closer to the people.
The opening ceremony and a number of other sessions of the festival will also be streamed live for a global audience, like previous editions of the festival.
The curators for Chobi Mela VIII are Munem Wasif, ASM Rezaur Rahman and Tanzim Wahab, while artist Salahuddin Ahmed and Mahbubur Rahman will be guest curators.
Hailed as “perhaps the world's most demographically inclusive festival” by The New York Times, Chobi Mela is the biggest photography festival of Asia and the only regular biennial event on the Asian cultural calendar.
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