To mark the International Mother Language Day, the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC) and the Bengal Foundation jointly organised a daylong workshop on art at the UGC Auditorium recently, says a press release. Over 40 artists, including Professor Rafiqun Nabi, Shishir Kumar Bhattacharya, Dr Abu Taher, Professor Hashem Khan and Shamarjit Roy Chowdhury participated at the workshop, producing 37 paintings that were presented to the UGC. This is the first initiative of this kind by UGC.
The workshop was inaugurated by Professor Murtaja Baseer, jointly coordinated by Professor Abdus Shakur Shah and Professor Hamiduzzaman Khan and presided over by Professor Nazrul Islam. Education and Commerce Adviser, Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, handed over certificates among the participants at the closing ceremony. In his speech, Dr Rahman urged the authorities of recently established universities to introduce subjects like fine arts, sculpture and liberal arts, and asked the UGC to organise workshops, seminars and symposiums on higher education, alongside art.