A Shifting Wave of Memory
Artist: Dipali Bhattacharya, Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts

“There are only 3 colours, 10 digits, and 7 notes; it's what we do with them that's important.”- Jim Rohn.

Adding those notes one after another we can create grand symphony, calculating those digits we can cover infinite space and over imposing those three colours we can create life and dreams. Colours can transform and translate the human life with so many moods and breath life in to the two dimensional canvas. And when these two, life and artist's canvas, combine underneath the canopy of colours, textures and intricate details you will find something beautiful and elegant.

And you will find all of these memorizing elements within the work of Dipali Bhattacharya in a twelve-day solo exhibition of the works of the Indian artist, under the title 'A Shifting Weave of Memory' which started on 5 March 2010, Friday, at 6 pm in the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts.

Dr. Abdur Razzaque, Honourable Minister, Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, Govt. of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, was present in the occasion as the Chief Guest and inaugurated the exhibition. H. E. Mr. Rajeet Mitter, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh was also present as the Special Guest.

Dipali Bhattacharya was born in 1952 and graduated from the University of Calcutta in 1972. She graduated from the Govt. College of Art & Crafts, Calcutta in 1974. Between 1976 and 1995 she participated in many group shows in India and abroad.

As Ranjit Hoskote says about her works, “Dipali's art may appear to be saturated with the themes and materials of a collective imagination, but this is misleading; hers is an intensely personal, even private project that is threaded through those large and shared contexts. The project of being a woman- for it is, like any attempts towards fashioning a personal identity, a project in these turbulent times lies at the core of Dipali's art…”

As our eyes travel across each of the 34 paintings, rendered in mixed media on canvas, we dwell on a multiplicity of visual stimuli. The paintings invites us into a world memorialised in the fiction of Tagore and the cinema of Satyajit Ray, and find its interiors and public spaces charged with emotional resonance. Like the protagonists around these masters crafted their works, Dipali's protagonists, too, exhibit duality: shaped through they are by external events, historical forces, epic shift of policy and collective direction. They also remain unattainable and inviolate in a shell of inwardness.

The exhibition will remain open till March 16, 2010 everyday from 12:00 pm to 8:00pm. So if you are tired with this concrete life catch a break and take a ride in the shifting wave of the memory lane.

By Zabir Hasan

Concert for Nasreen

Nasreen is a woman who used to work at Banani Bonosree Mahila Shongo, an NGO, but has been paralysed on the left side since a stroke. Treatment for this kind if ailment is very expensive and not something she can afford, so a group of people, Imrul Karim Emil, Rafatul Bari Labib, Ashfi Ahmed, Munawwar Mahmood, banded together to help throw a charity concert for her benefit. On Friday, March 5, big names of music like Shunno, Bohemian, Armeen Musa, Arnob and many more came out to show their support and help raise money for a worthy cause.

The show was at Cofi11, a small place for charity shows with tickets as low as tk.150, so obviously, it was over crowded with no seats and no cover against the heat. It can get pretty annoying when you have to stand on your feet for 6-7 hours listening to bands, most of which didn't quite deliver.

The show started off with Minus+2 who performed Blink 182's 'All The Small Things', System of a Down's 'Lonely Day', Silverstein's version of 'Apologize' and Switchfoot's 'You' with guest vocalist, Saima Rahman. They had trouble being on tune but overall they were OK. Unfortunately, this young band wasn't very memorable next to the big guns; clearly they need a lot more work/practice.

Next up was Heal with 'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls, 'Heaven' by Bryan Adams and a Led Zeppelin track. While the other two are very common tracks amongst local bands, a little Bryan Adams was VERY refreshing. Kudos to the vocals, he's definitely going places. Adamant replaced them on stage with 3 Doors Down's 'Here Without You', Pink Foyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall' and '18 and Life' by Skid Row.

Affliction followed with U2's 'With or Without You', a song called 'True Glass' and, finally, 'Hollow Year' by Dream Theatre.

With that, it was the end of amateur hour and Aftermath came up on stage bringing us 'Last Kiss' by Pearl Jam, 'Janina' by Shachin Dev Burman and two of their own tracks, 'Moho' and 'Matir Rodh'. Old School, a fan favorite, was up next. They, with their unusual instruments of tabla/flute/violin alongside the norm guitar/bass, never fail to amaze the crowd. Unfortunately, because the sound check took so long, they didn't have much time on stage, starting off with an instrumental 'Dibashopno' and ending with a debut of their own song 'Bango'.

Alternation took the stage with Incubus's 'Pardon Me' followed by Foo Fighter's 'Best of You' and ending with Watson Bros' 'Rong'. Usually the most charismatic on stage to make up for their not-up-to-par musical skills, the band was very disappointing on Friday night. The vocalist seemed to have issues with this voice and their lead guitarist, who was by far the best musician in the band, was MIA. Without the stage presence, the band failed to make an impression. Fortunately, Germantown soon replaced them on stage with a cover of Red Hot Chilli Pepper's 'Snow (Hey Oh)' and U2's 'Pride'.

Bohemian followed with their play list of U2's 'Desire', two unreleased songs 'Mohajon', and 'Tomae Niye' from their upcoming album, and a cover of GnR's 'Knockin' on heaven's door'. The band is not just an absolute delight up on stage and easy on the ears, but they're definitely eye candy too.

Shunno was next with some of their own songs including 'Shoto Asha' and a cover of 'Tui She'. If you haven't heard Shunno yet, you have GOT to catch them live on their next performance. This is one band you absolutely cannot miss. Not only do they have great vocals and great music but they've got a tres sexy front man too.

Armeen Musa and the Grasshoppers followed singing a couple of tracks including Police's 'Message In A Bottle' and her very own 'Bhromor Koio'. While Armeen Musa has one of the most beautiful female voices of today, it didn't quite show through in her live performance Friday night.

Finally the show ended with Arnob, 'the great'. After a long excruciating six hours of waiting in the scorching heat and mosquitoes, Arnob's less than stellar performance was a bit of a buzz kill. He played songs like 'Hok Kolorob' and 'Tomar Jonno' two of his hit singles and did a duet with Saima Rahman to Laura's 'Opekkha'. Being a huge Arnob fan, his performance on Friday was a little disappointing for yours truly.

The organizers would like to thank Eastern Bank Ltd, Banani Bonosree Mahila Shongo, Kalyar and Replica ltd for all their help and support and for sponsoring the event.

By Musarrat Rahman

Nano tales

Fantasy
She is a princess, million's dream girl, the perfect diva! She draws the mirror more close to see her killing smile and nocturnal eyes. Anyone can die for a glimpse of her. Suddenly a cold wind blew and the picture falls down from her hand. Old Fantasy! "Nanijaan, Tell me a new story!"
" I've the perfect one for you darling!"
By Jessica Islam Lia

A Mother's Dilemma
She sat down panting; the house was finally spotless. Suddenly the back door opened. She stared at the figure standing there, scared. He had a smirk on his face.
“You wouldn't!” “Oh yes I will.”
He took a step inside and walked up the stairs, muddy footprints followed behind him. She groaned and took the mop. She hated rainy days.
By Sharnila Kabir

Reality confined
His vision of reality was twisted- some ambiguous shapes intersecting to form a tangible world. His sky was always purple with a shade of red on the horizon. The trees were blue. The moon was white- not the white we comprehend but a white pure and untouched. He knew how to confine reality in a frame. We called it art.
By Moyukh Mahtab