A walk down memory lane

It is an exhibition that utilises modern technology to offer a magnificent opportunity to walk through history.

It is an exhibition that allows visitors to get a glimpse of the lives and legacies of two iconic leaders -- Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Mahatma Gandhi -- who inspired and continues to inspire millions in their own country and all over the world.

The "Bangabandhu-Bapu Digital Exhibition" showcases the extraordinary journeys of the extraordinary leaders and the bond of two neighbouring countries, their shared sacrifices and the fight for justice that unite the two nations.

This digital exhibition at the Bangabandhu International Convention Centre in Dhaka, was opened by visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday. In December last year, Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Bangabandhu-Bapu Digital Exhibition at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

The exhibition is curated with 21 walls of information including the introduction wall highlighting the theme of the exhibition, a meeting wall based on the day the two leaders met in August 1947 and Ba-Bangamata wall celebrating the two women who stood by them.

There are over 100 points of digital engagement such as a holographic time machine that layers historical photos with a timeline to create a unique interface for users to reference the times and lives of these leaders.

The walk-through history begins with the introduction wall that showcases the theme of the exhibition and establishes the stature of these two great leaders in the eyes of the world via testimonials.

"Two extraordinary men at different times in history changed the destiny of their people, one adopting Ahimsa, while the other embraced his language to carve an identity against the oppressors," was written on the wall.

The next two walls provide a comprehensive view of the lives of the two leaders. "The Meeting Wall" is based on the day they met, in August 1947. It displays probably the only photo that has Bangabandhu and Bapu in the same frame.

According to the curator of the exhibition, Birad Rajaram Yajnik, the exhibition is a digital one because it speaks the language of technology, and sends a message to the young generation about the lives of two great leaders.

He told this paper that key points of interest of the exhibition are the meeting wall, a robotic signature of both leaders, and their favourite music.

Apart from displaying photographs and digital content on different historic events of the two countries, historic quotes of the two great leaders were also exhibited on the walls.

One famous quote of Bangabandhu read: "My greatest strength is the love for my people. My greatest weakness is that I love them too much".

There is also a historic quote of Mahatma Gandhi: "My life is my message".

Representations of iconic moments like Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March, the historic March 7, 1971 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are noteworthy installations.

The pain, suffering and injustice endured by the Indian and Bangladeshi people are presented in the Jallianwala Bagh and the genocide tunnel. The visitor has an option to review the wall of 1971 that sequences the events of that year.

The "genocide tunnel" depicts the experiences of the many Bangladeshis who were brutally tortured at the hands of the Pakistani army in the 1971 Liberation War.

A number of photographs on the barbaric torture of Bangladeshi women by the Pakistani army during the war in 1971 were also put on display there.

Photographs of Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during different historic events were also displayed digitally.

The Triangle of Engagement provides a 360-degree view of the historic locations, a robotic signature of Bangabandhu and Bapu, and the favourite music of the two leaders playing in the background.