Month-long festival in December

The birth anniversary of the great artist falls on December 29.

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh National Museum and Bengal Foundation will jointly organise the festival, first of its kind at the national level. This will be the first major display of Shilpacharya's paintings after his last solo in 1976, said the organisers at a press conference in the city yesterday.

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The exhibition of Zainul's artworks will be held at three venues simultaneously. A large array of about 600 paintings and sketches will be put on display. A catalogue containing all the artworks displayed will also be published.

An art competition for children will be held at the National Art Gallery of Shilpakala Academy on December 10.

An exhibition of photographs of the great artist will be held at the Zainul Gallery of Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, in the first week of December.

Also, a two-week-long exhibition of handicrafts will begin at the National Art Gallery Plaza of Shilpakala Academy on December 17.

A folk song festival will be held on the Shilpakala premises on December 22 featuring folk artistes from across the country.

On December 24, a seminar on Shilpacharya will take place at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Shilpakala Academy. Zainul's contemporary artists from India and Pakistan are expected to attend the seminar, said the organisers.

Secretary of cultural ministry Khurshid Alam, Director of National Museum Mahmudul Haque, eminent artist Qayyum Chowdhury, Chairman of Bengal Foundation Abul Khair, and Zainul's son Mainul Abedin were present at the press conference organised by the Bengal Foundation at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts. Subir Chowdhury, director of Bengal Gallery, presided over the event.