Zainul festival begins

Students of Saint Augustine's Tutorial took out a colourful procession in the city yesterday to mark the 90th birth anniversary of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin. PHOTO: STAR

The Institute of Fine Arts of the Dhaka University (DU) organised the event. An annual art exhibition will also be held at the same time.

DU Vice-chancellor Professor SMA Faiz inaugurated the festival in the morning at the institute's Bakultala after the students and teachers of the institute had placed wreaths at the grave of the Shilpachariya located right beside the institute.

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Expressing his feelings about the festival Prof Faiz said, "This would help students get introduced to the ideas of their teachers."

Jahanara Abedin, wife of Zainul Abedin and architect Muzharul Islam attended the function as special guests.

Muzharul, who is also the architect of the Institute Building, said that Zainul created the base of visual arts practice in the country and dedicated his life to its flourishing.

I feel pride to have had the opportunity to be one of his colleagues who he shared his ideas with. We tried to reflect the local culture in the architecture, he said.

The Zainul Abedin Gold Medal was awarded at the function for overall performances. The award this year went to Tejash Haldar Josh, a third year student of Sculpture department, for his work titled 'Nimagna'.

A total of 716 art-works of the students from different departments are on display at the exhibition.

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh National Museum and Bengal Foundation are jointly organising the festival.