Jahanara Tariq

On mothers and reading

I wonder at how these frugal, accessible pleasures define her daily existence and get elated with the fact that reading takes up a significant space on the shelf

3w ago

How I feel about Virginia Woolf being part-Bengali

Maybe I loved her so because we were daughters of the same soil, to some extent, at least. It made me smile. But I also sneered at myself a little bit, because her soil had also ripped apart mine for over 200 years.

Mundanities, magic realism, Bangladesh—Shahidul Zahir’s novellas

The personal space is the same as the political sphere, the individual on the same strand as the collective.

Notes of a first-time English teacher

As the white hot sun pierced through the soufflé clouds on an afternoon a lifetime ago, my aunt and I leaned back a little too precariously on our rattan armchairs while talking about the allure of academe.

Ode to the book, my forever Valentine

In a particularly American but artsy, cinematic production depicting the friendship between David Lipsky and David Foster Wallace,

Books that changed the world: Gilgamesh through the sands of time

The epic antedates even the depiction of the famous Trojan war; it is, in effect, the oldest epic found till date.

Painting during a pandemic

After more than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, we are still largely confined to the four walls of our homes. But for painters, by and large, this has always been the case.

Art world adjusts to lockdown cautiously

With spiralling Covid-19 cases, the government of Bangladesh announced a seven-day countrywide lockdown, starting from April 5. Art galleries and event spaces are monitoring the situation strictly. While most of them have postponed their public programmes, others have chosen to operate cautiously.

Shehzad Chowdhury’s “Chaa Porbo” explores a conversation with the self

“Chaa Porbo (Tea Time)”, an exhibition by noted artist Shehzad Chowdhury, is taking place at The Flourist, in Dhaka’s Gulshan 2. Curated by Saria Saguaro, the show features a striking collection of artworks, which were brought to life using tea and the process of cyanotype, during the months of isolation induced by the pandemic.

Group exhibition ‘Dui’ explores synchronised encounters

“Dui”, a successor to the exhibition, “Ek”, is the second chapter of the series of exhibitions curated by Taiara Farhana Tareque. Taking place simultaneously over two places in the city— Studio 6/6 and Dwip Gallery, “Dui” portrays two alternative visions of a singular artist, but draws up a merged conversation by bringing in the concept of a particular space and tying it together within the artwork. “The point of synchronicity is actually at in minds of the audience,” Taiara explains.

In conversation with Dilara Begum Jolly

Yet, her plethora of meditative sketches on tragic happenings are imbued with a certain sense of surreal sublimity. Though she started out as a traditional painter, Jolly went on to experiment with different areas, including filmmaking, photography and even the postmodernist terrains of performance art.

Arcadia Arts Gallery opened with group show of eminent artists

Arcadia Arts Gallery, located at the heart of Banani, opened with an important group show recently. The exhibition, which began on February 16, is showcasing artworks of some of the most eminent artists of the country and beyond, such as Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hasan, SM Sultan, Alakesh Ghosh, Ivy Zaman, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, and Kalidas Karmakar among others. The co-founders of this hub, Khan Rezaul Hoq and Arneeb Chaudhury, are distinguished art collectors.

For the love of books

Similar to the mimicry of life by art, sometimes a book in our hands can acutely imitate the arcs of the love story we are in, ourselves—like the time a ghost lover stole a paperback Frankenstein from the neighborhood café as a last minute birthday gift for me, while our alliance reeked of haunted loneliness and painful assertions, or when one of my friends, a doctor by day and an avid reader by night, spoke about his first encounter with Harry Potter and the “cute, sweet girl across the hall.”

Tahmid Islam’s ‘Art That Moves’ underway at 138 East

“Art That Moves’, a vibrant exhibition by artist Tahmid Islam, is currently underway at 138 East in Gulshan 1. Tahmid shares his artworks from his social media page, Crazy Creative. This exhibition intrinsically focuses on combining the aesthetic of Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation film company by Hayao Miyazaki, and internalising it within different moments that are woven in our culture.

The Portrait of the Writer as a Critic

The books which are closest to my heart and which evoke a certain sense of otherworldly glee are the ones that are themselves odes to literature, reading, and writing.

Vaping or smoking — the lesser evil

Are e-cigarettes the route to diminish the tobacco epidemic? Or is it just choosing the lesser of two evils? Let us look into the details, and shatter the myths relating to the various smoking and vaping trends circulating around our concrete jungle Dhaka.

Green is the new black

Even though many claim global warming and the entire concept of climate change to be a hoax, it is very evident how global warming is causing various disrupting changes around us.

Sprucing Up the Guest Room

Decorating a guest bedroom is a very tricky deal, if you ask me. On the one hand, you need to consider making the room feel cosy, welcoming and of course, comfortable.

Decorating a teenager's room

Thanks to Hollywood and other existing norms, we often relate teenagers and their rooms to be their den, a place for meditation and salvation, either flamboyantly decorated in hues of pink and peach, or overladen with clumsy posters of celebrities with loud music blaring from speakers.

Divide and rule

A brilliant way to spice up your living space making it more useful is by adding more dimensions, and a great way to do that is through room dividers.

Giving class to the glass

While we are always much excited to style ourselves in new clothes and makeup with the every season's trends, we seldom come up with ideas to decorate our living spaces. After all, home is where the heart is, and the décor of your home tells a great deal about yourself. A very simple technique used to give your house a creative makeover within a short budget is to play with

An everlasting grace

In modern day television and cinema, the idea of individualism is almost becoming non-existent. The same thick brows, dull stare and heavily contoured cheeks on everyone are proving to be rather monotonous. At times like these, one cannot help but be nostalgic about the fashion icons who dominated the silver screen with their unique fashion statements, eternal grace and irreplaceable charm and poise. Be it the Golden age of Hollywood, ultimate bohemian chic or sweetness personified in a pair of lively eyes — all of these beauty divas were poetry in motion, having something uniquely dazzling to offer and still remain etched in our hearts.

The everlasting appeal of the Concert for Bangladesh

A prominent member of the iconic British band Beatles, George Harrison, was one of the main coordinators of the Concert for Bangladesh, held at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 1 August 1971 to raise international awareness and funds for Bangladesh's liberation war. Harrison ended the concert with the song 'Bangladesh, Bangladesh'. The simplicity of the lyrics takes on a new and powerful force.

How to deal with woofs and meows!

Pets are lovely. Be it cats or dogs, our furry little friends take a lot of the blues away from our mundane day to day lives. But not all

Taking danger out of the kitchen

Growing up in Dhaka, or in any other part of Bangladesh for that matter, we have always seen our mothers and grandmothers cook up diverse delicious dishes rich in spices each telling an age-old different story.

Before midnight strikes

Even if the statement is now a cliché, the energy behind the words remain youthful as ever. Every single stage of our life has its own beauty, however late teens and early twenties have their own distinct sense of unbridled excitement, nervous anticipation and colourful fervour.

Designs in drapery

Curtains are the most popular form of window treatments in Bangladesh, but which sort of curtains are in vogue at the moment with the Dhaka dwellers? The key words are gorgeous yet classy, with a touch of modern sophistication.

Gardening in the crowded city

A cup of steaming hot coffee paired with your favourite book, clad in periwinkle pyjamas and bathing in the winter sunshine. Obviously, you would have to be surrounded by beautiful greenery and colourful flowers with maybe yellow butterflies roaming around. Can it get any better?