National Art Exhibition sets off at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

The 23rd National Art Exhibition is underway at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA). The exhibition, inaugurated on July 1, is featuring an array of artworks on diverse mediums and genres by 310 artists.

Prime minister’s political adviser, HT Imam, inaugurated the exhibition as Chief Guest. Former Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid, Md Abdul Mannan Ilias, additional secretary (administration) to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and internationally renowned Bangladeshi artist Monirul Islam were present as special guests at the inaugural ceremony.

Ashraful Alam Paplu, director of the Department of Fine Arts, BSA, delivered the welcome address, while Liaquat Ali Lucky, director general of BSA, presided over the programme.

For their best artworks, eight artists were awarded in different categories at the inaugural ceremony. The guests handed over awards (award money, crest and certificates) to the deserving artists.

Kamruzzaman bagged the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award 2019, worth BDT 2 lakhs for his work Global Warming-2. Four artists – Tanvir Mahmud, Ruhul Karim Rumee, Rafat Ahmed Badhon and Sahid Kazi received Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Honourable Mention Awards in Sculpture, Print Making, Painting and Installation categories respectively. Uttam Kumer Talukder received Bengal Foundation Award for his work Story of Life-1, Faria Khanum Tuly bagged Artist Kazi Anowar Hossain Award for her work Preetibimba-4, while Sumon Wahed received the Dipa Haque Award at the ceremony. 

This year, 850 artists applied for the participation in this exhibition. After primary selection, the five-member selection committee selected 322 works among the 1500 artworks for the exhibition. Among the artworks, 159 are paintings, 45 are sculptures, 50 are prints, 17 are crafts, 8 are ceramics, 37 are installations and video art and 7 are performance art.

The Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, established Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in 1974 in order to continue the glorious development of art and culture of Bangladesh. In 1975, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy started the National Art exhibition, to showcase the contemporary art of the country biennially. To keep the continuation of that tradition, BSA organised the country’s largest exhibition, which will continue till July 21.