UNESCO’s #BeCreative earns praise on social media

As a way of coping with the coronavirus pandemic, UNESCO Dhaka initiated the online campaign, #BeCreative, featuring different artistes and cultural professionals. Tania Ahmed, Gousul Alam Shaon, Prito Reza, Warda Rihab, Omer Aiaz, Sumaiya Shimu, Khayam Sanu Sandhi, Tony Dias, Anupama Sekhar, Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy, Samina Husain Prema, Sudip Chakroborthy, Fifa Chakma, Sydur Rahman Lipon, Joy Shahriar and Dr Irin Pervin Lopa participated in the campaign, making short videos of performances, recollections, tips and practical hands-on demonstrations of simple artistic works.

Syed Rashad Imam Tonmoy

Theatre artiste Sydur Rahman Lipon, who teaches at the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at DU, demonstrated different movements of village singers in his video. Discussing the concepts of master beat and step by step instructions of how theatre artistes can practice the rhythmic physical movement of a Gayen or village singer, he incorporated a song, demonstrating how the master beat, song and physical movement are combined to design a performance.

Tania Ahmed

Noted Bangladeshi actor, model, choreographer and director Tania Ahmed shared her video from the USA, along with her niece and nephew Juyana and Arush, respectively. They demonstrated different moods and acting expressions. Tania also spoke about her family reunions, during which they got together to perform in short plays. She urged the audience to practice easy but effective artistic skills with their families to stay healthy and happy in these trying times.

Omer Aiaz

Prito Reza’s product photography

Prominent cartoonist and founder of Cartoon People Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy shared his techniques of drawing with everyday objects, such as tissue boxes and disinfectant sprays.

Talented music producer and singer Khayam Sanu Sandhi composed an impromptu song in his video, giving out tips and tricks of how to creatively produce a song at any given time.

Moreover, actor Omer Aiaz, in a fun-filled video, demonstrated how to make a puppet. He engaged in a conversation with his puppet, Tera Mia, on effective learning of Bangla alphabets, for proper and better pronunciation.

Noted photographer and director Prito Reza explained that as we stay indoors, we could try product photography. He showed some simple concepts for creating visually interesting photographs and encouraged the audience to spend their time at home creatively.