What makes a visual artist tick in the cacophony of your typical modern existence, which in hindsight has the tenacity to make one increasingly distracted? One of the answers lies with the recently declared winner of the second iteration of the 2025 East London Art Prize, Laisul Hoque. This all-media art prize competition received 900 submissions from artists and collectives living or working within London’s ‘E’ postcode this year. Laisul won £15,000 (over $15,000) and the opportunity to host a solo exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery in Bow, scheduled for 2026, owing to his interactive installation art piece “An Ode to All the Flavours” (2024), which was selected from 12 shortlisted artists.
Bangladeshi singer Resmi Mirza, one with a sharply grounded vocal prowess is also one with a tried and true love for folk music since the beginning of her musical voyage. Mentored by the celebrated Khulna Shilpa Kola Academy music teacher and founder of his own Music Academy Sa-re-ga-ma-pa, Mirza Golam Rasul, who also happens to be her father, Resmi found her direction. In a way, she found her calling having come from a musical family — her siblings are self-assured musicians too.
The country might have undergone an unprecedented shift in power this year, marked by various sacrifices that have, and will continue to, drive seemingly necessary transitions across all sectors.
The frameworks of portrayals of gender-based violence in our local productions have been birthed from the need to give voice to the oppressed Biranganas (war heroines)—as portrayed through several films or dramas throughout the years.
The arduous journey of Tamzid Islam Zarir, an ardent Shah Rukh Khan fan, reached its culmination this year during the SRK Day event on November 2. His story, as the current organising secretary of the devoted SRK fan club SRK Bangladesh CFC, gained significant attention earlier this month when he met the Bollywood icon alongside 400 to 450 other fans on the occasion of King Khan’s birthday.
As I stepped into the Central Shaheed Minar late in the afternoon, I was greeted with the jovial and embracing atmosphere of feminists from all corners of the city— and perhaps even beyond. Most were decked out in orange and red sarees, seemingly in line with a theme for the day. Some were even in work mode, going live on social media platforms to share updates on behalf of their organisations.
The intrinsically intricate nooks and crevices of the realities of living with mental health disorders can very well be deemed as being only ever harsher than those represented in media. Even the churning and voicing of these complexities via books or writing can only do so much to make people perceive mental health disorders for what they are. However, when push comes to shove, representations of psychological disorders in any form can mean a further step taken to bring awareness to them — and Bangladeshi projects seem to have touched upon two rather specific ways to represent them.
In all honesty, the filming of the hazed-up and sluggish diplopia, magnified mercilessly by the strong presence of hallucinatory colours resembling questionable club joints and sounds that first seep in vaguely until the individual under the influence, begins hearing properly — has become trite. The fact that an aware audience is easily able to predict the cueing in of an unnecessary drug-addled montage in a project that does not even necessitate such an addition has also become dulling — so much so that I instantly and almost mindlessly give way to a bout of onomatopoeia of disdain.
Sapnil Chowdhury is a passionate go-getter, who dabbled in acting, volunteering, and sports, among his other interests, throughout the years. He was born and brought up in Brahmanbaria until he moved to Dhaka to pursue a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from American International University Bangladesh (AIUB). We caught up with him to find out more about his work.
Established in 2008, the Millennium Campus Network (MCN) is a non-profit organisation that trains 21st century social impact leaders. Bangladesh has been selected for the 1st time in the MCN this year. In 2018, the organisation expanded the fellowship programme by partnering with United Nations Academic Impact to assemble, contest, and revel undergraduate leadership for SDG and UNAI principles. Out of all the applicants, only six percent of them are chosen on the basis of the ideas that can prove to be progressive for a nation. 17 fellows from AUW, 13 fellows from BRACU, 14 fellows from BUP and 11 fellows from CU were selected from Bangladesh.
A little over a year ago Nusrat Rabiya Lubaba began her social initiative, Charity Scrunchies, in an attempt to help her parents provide for the underprivileged during the pandemic. Lubaba is an A-level student, determined to help those in need as much as she can to the best of her ability. We reached out to her to find out more about her work.
Prior to being scouted for the Olympics, she won a gold medal in recurve women’s singles in 2019 during the 3rd ISSF Solidarity Archery Championship.
The Department of Criminology of the University of Dhaka (DU) organised the 3rd International Conference on Criminology and Forensic Science in Global South August 8 and 9, 2021. This year, they commemorated three celebrations, including the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, centenary celebration of the University of Dhaka, and Golden Jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh, during the conference. The conference was arranged in collaboration with Ryukoku University, Japan and the National Forensic Sciences University, India.
In recent years, many enterprises in the food industry have garnered popularity amongst the youth. Restaurants in the country imperatively stay on the lookout for the latest trends in the market and piggyback on them to attract young customers, who are always looking for new experiences.
Designer, writer and entrepreneur Akhila Shaha built her two brands, Akhila Shaha and Yours, Mammamia (YM) in less than a year once her business came into being in June 2020.
Meye Network, a platform that combats gender-based injustice, was founded by Trishia Nashtaran in 2011. Trishia is one of the 22 changemakers
The Liberation War Museum celebrated its 25th anniversary yesterday, keeping the month of Bangladesh’s independence in mind. The celebrations began with a recording of the song, “Muktiro Mondiro Sopano Tole”. Members of Liberation War Museum’s Board of Trustees Dr Sarwar Ali, Mofidul Hoque, and Sara Zaker welcomed the audience with their speeches.
Anondolokey, a hostel for women and girls in Bashundhara, was founded by Moriom Mannan around six years ago. Ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8), she talks about her journey with Star Youth, The Daily Star.
