September 7, 2018
Viewership in review
As you enter one of the inner rooms of Shilpakala's Gallery-1, you notice a television with a tap attached to its screen.
August 17, 2018
The state of printmaking in Bangladesh
The tradition of printmaking has a longstanding history in Bangladesh, and in South Asia. Though the technique originated in China, printmaking quickly became a popular mode of artistic reproduction in the subcontinent. Woodblocks dabbed in paint, for example, were used to stamp patterns on fabrics—a design form known as “block print”.
August 10, 2018
Age of innocence - news discourse surrounding a students' movement
“They should have taken our demands seriously, but they didn't," Imran Ahmed, a protesting student, told Al Jazeera on August 3, the fifth day of mass student protests demanding safe roads.
July 27, 2018
From Bombay to Mumbai: Sacred Games maps the city through a series of communal riots
Two weeks ago, Netflix dropped its first Indian original series which has kept everyone on their toes. Sacred Games, an adaptation of the same-titled novel by Vikram Chandra, and directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, premiered on Netflix on July 6.
July 20, 2018
The men of Humayun Ahmed's films
A skilled storyteller in his own right, Humayun Ahmed's narrative prowess was eminent in his films. During the 90s when rampant commercialisation resulted in over-glammed, action-packed, blockbuster-style cinema led by testosterone-fuelled heroes, Ahmed's films exhibited a knack for well-rounded and socially relevant narratives.
July 13, 2018
A mad, mad, world
At 40, Unmad is the longest running satire magazine in South Asia. Apart from its reputation as a household essential for Bangladeshi teenagers, it has also been a sole platform for the artistic tradition of cartoon and satire to flourish.
July 6, 2018
Carnival of grotesque
The walls of artist-run space, Kalakendra, host artist Nisar Hossain's drawings and prints this month. Part of the third instalment of the gallery's “Drawing and Thinking” series, Bikargrostho Shomoyer Roikhik Boyan (Linear Text of a Delirious Time), curated by Wakilur Rahman, opened on June 30, 2018 in the presence of special guest, artist Rafikun Nabi. Notable artists such as Sheikh Afzal, Abul Barq Alvi, Shishir Bhattacharjee, and Rashid Amin were also present at the event.
June 29, 2018
Is there any ideology behind romance?
Watching telefilms on Eid is a household tradition for TV-owning families all over Dhaka. The popularity of Eid special telefilms marked a shift from state-sponsored programmes on BTV (though Ittadi still remains a classic) to a variety-based, commercial-heavy, television culture.
June 8, 2018
Dark Flows the River Turag
The waters of the Turag flow alongside Dhaka's industrial suburbs of Tongi, Gazipur and Savar, lined with dyeing and finishing factories. The river was once surrounded by agricultural land and the water was used mainly for fishing and transportation. Nowadays, the area is mostly inhabited by people who directly or indirectly work in the textile industry.
May 25, 2018
Will the white man ever stop trying to “save” us?
A few days ago, I came across a viral video by Mikko Foundation, an organisation run by a brother-sister duo from Seattle with a “burning desire to give back to community.” The video showed the founder, who is white, trying to persuade locals in Gulshan neighbourhood to wear t-shirts designed by the organisation, supposedly as a humanitarian gesture of giving back to a struggling community.