Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has unveiled an exciting lineup of programmes to celebrate the new year, with a month-long festival titled "Tarunner Utsab" (Festival of Youth) throughout January.

According to a press release, the events surrounding the festival will be held at district, divisional, and national levels, and will include vibrant celebrations like the National Pitha Festival and the Folk Theatre Festival.

Among the notable schedules, the "Sixth National Sculpture Exhibition" will run until January 20, while the month-long exhibition titled "2024: Oi Nutoner Keton Ore" will feature posters, paintings, photography, videography, and cartoons and conclude on January 17. Additionally, the National Pitha Festival will be held on the Academy grounds from January 24 to February 1.

The Academy's Theatre and Film Department will kick off the new year with a three-day "Folk Theatre Festival" in Sirajganj starting today. Fourteen districts will host similar three-day festivals throughout the month. Under the initiative "Artistic Journey Towards Equality 2024-2025", theatrical performances will be staged in Cumilla, Munshiganj, Rangpur, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, and Jashore. 

Furthermore, the 23rd Dhaka International Film Festival will be held from January 11-19, organised by Rainbow Film Society in collaboration with the Shilpakala Academy.

On January 21, the Chinese Embassy will host an "Opera Show" in Dhaka, followed by another on January 23 in Chattogram. The Chinese opera troupe will also visit the Theatre and Performance Studies Department of Dhaka University on January 22 and Chittagong University on January 24. The Academy will notably host acrobatic exhibitions in Faridpur, Gopalganj, Kushtia, Satkhira, and Jhenidah.

In collaboration with the Academy's Research and Publication Department, the weekly "Bahas Series" will run under the theme "New Bangladesh: What Lies Ahead?" on January 2, 9, 16, and 23 at the National Theatre Hall seminar room. Additionally, the Academy will participate in the Cox's Bazar District Book Fair from January 9-18. On January 12, a digital archiving of collected artworks, books, and publications will be launched, while a public opinion poll on research topics for the proposed Research Conservatory will be held on January 24. 

The Shilpakala Academy Library expansion project in Khulna Division is scheduled for January 27. A workshop on research management strategies will take place from January 12 to 16, jointly organised by the Research and Publication and Training Departments.

On January 9, the Fine Arts Department will host a symposium at the Academy in celebration of the Sixth National Sculpture Exhibition. The event will feature discussions titled "Sculpture: The Early Phases of Modernity and the Rise of Novera" and "Sculpture: Contemporary Constructs and Re-imagining Forms". A second symposium titled "Politics of Depiction and State Reform" will be held on January 10 as part of the "2024: Oi Nutoner Keton Ore" exhibition.

From January 11-15, commemorations will be held in Cumilla and Narsingdi to honour the martyrs of the nationwide Anti-discrimination Students Movement and to outline the blueprint for a new Bangladesh after the fall of autocracy. The closing ceremony of the "Sixth National Sculpture Exhibition" is set for January 20, while from January 24-25, "Baishamyahin Bangladesh: Dehoghori" performance art will take place in Chattogram and Rangamati under the theme "Towards an Equal Bangladesh." 

On January 31, Jahangirnagar University will host a curation workshop and exhibition of selected works by art researchers from various universities, overseen by its Fine Arts Department.

The Music, Dance, and Recitation Department will present a band music concert titled "Bolo Bir, Ami Chiro-Unnoto Shir" at the Shilpakala Academy alongside five other districts. Regularly scheduled events like the "Sadhumela" will take place on January 13 in Jhenidah, followed by shows in Dhaka and Pabna on January 14. 

A "Qawwali Night" will be hosted in Chattogram on January 24, while a special needs artiste performance titled "Bismoyer Obhijatri, Kanone Kokil" is scheduled for January 9 in Dhaka. A workers' and mass people's debate, "Songs of the Uprising", will be held in Gazipur on January 17. From January 29-31, 50 district towns will stage dance performances under the theme "Our Blood Surges in the Yearning for Freedom."

The Training Department will host an orientation session for production-based drama workshop trainers in all 64 districts on January 5. Capacity-building training for district-level trainers in music, drama, dance, and fine arts will be organised in eight divisional cities from January 7 to 9 and January 21 to 23. The first phase of production-based drama workshops will run in 14 districts from January 14 to 28.

The Production Department will arrange a live AR/VR 360-degree multimedia interactive exhibition titled "Poster-ye July Uprising" by Debashis Chakraborty in Dhaka on January 7. A VR tour of the "Oi Nutoner Keton Ore" exhibition will be available on January 11, and a "July Uprising in Northern Bengal" VR exhibition will be held in Rangpur from January 18-25. Additionally, the first National Comics and Graphics Fest-2025 will take place in Dhaka from January 25 to February 5.

In collaboration with the Academy's Conservatory Cell, a "Charamaga Utsab" ("Mahisasur Badh" drama) will be staged in Durgapur, Netrokona, on January 4. The Koach community's traditional "Bihu Utsab" will be celebrated in Jhenaigati, Sherpur, on January 21, followed by an Indigenous Alpana Painting and Cultural Festival in Godagari, Rajshahi, from January 25 to 28.

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