In an interview, poet Richard Siken says, “Art doesn’t come from trauma, art comes from curiosity.” And we are most curious when the emotions we feel are so intense that even more than tending to them or managing to live through them, understanding them feels as crucial as breathing. Living with grief is painful, but living through meaningless grief is impossible. It is easy to mistake this exhibition as portrayals of trauma, of grieving, but such can’t be said when that is the reality people exist within. But it is just an exhibition of resistance, resilience and endurance than of torture and exploitation, sometimes more former than the latter.

Jatra troupes from different regions of the country participated through a registration-based process. The programme could not end on its scheduled date due to a period of state mourning and was brought to a close this week with its final events in the capital.

At its centre, the play interrogates a competitive social order that treats examinations as battlegrounds and achievement as survival. It raises direct questions about the responsibilities of parents, the emotional costs of ambition, and the fragile relationship between care and control. By framing these tensions through a child’s account, “Postmortem” exposes conflicts that are often dismissed as routine until their consequences become irreversible.

“Darpane Sharatshashi” was written by Manoj Mitra and originally directed by Aly Zaker, two towering figures of Bangla theatre. The 1992 staging became historic for its rare collaboration between Desh Natok and Nagorik Natya Sampradaya.

The finale opens today (Wednesday), January 21, at 6:30 pm at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Shilpakala Academy. Urmi Opera from Mohammadpur, Magura, will stage “Premer Shomadhi Tire”. The play is written by Nirmal Mukhopadhyay and directed by Shamim Khandakar.

After decades of artistic achievement, Abul Hayat continues to write; not out of obligation or ambition, but for the enduring joy that words bring him.

Dwip, a gallery well-known for its bold approach to art and being vocal about every social issue possible, is currently hosting a solo art exhibition by Shikdar Saikat titled “This Show is a Waste of Time”. Partnered by Ghartera and Sarridon Collective, this show talks about the current social, political, and economic situation of our country, fuelled by ignorance, fascism, extremism, misogyny, and the misuse of religion, through satire and dark humour. But just like a usual “aware” millennial, the artist made unique, high-quality artistic memes instead of going for typical or traditional methods.

Curated by a team led by architects Marina Tabassum and Tanzim Wahab, both participants in the movement, the museum preserves graffiti, debris, and personal belongings left behind on the day protesters stormed the residence. Exhibits include bloodstained clothing of victims and the final letter of a 16-year-old protester.

Written by acclaimed playwright, director and actor Mamunur Rashid, “Guinea Pig” is a sharp satire rooted in Bangladesh’s socio-economic and political reality. The story exposes how ordinary people are treated like test subjects by the state apparatus and the affluent, highlighting deep disparities in how life and dignity are valued.

“The Human Voice”, written by French playwright Jean Cocteau and first staged in 1930, is a one-act, single-character play. It follows a woman speaking to her lover for the last time on the telephone. He is set to marry someone else the next day. Over the course of the conversation, heartbreak, fear of abandonment and emotional col

The festival opened with the Chobi Mela Rally, which began at the National Press Club and moved through the city to the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, culminating in an inaugural ceremony at the Jatiyo Chitrashala Auditorium.

The fair features a carefully arranged selection of stalls showcasing handcrafted goods, traditional showpieces, and local delicacies, creating a welcoming space where artisans and visitors can engage in a meaningful exchange of heritage and creativity.

The anniversary festival will feature both group and solo recitation performances. Alongside Muktodhara, several invited recitation organisations will take part in the programme.

Nearly 100 photographs will be displayed, tracing major phases of Khaleda Zia’s personal and political life. The images move from her early years in public life to her rise as a national leader, and through the long cycles of power, opposition and confrontation that have defined her career.

Inside the office, the smell of smoke still lingers. Guitars, tablas, dhols, khols, ektaras, amplifiers, chairs, tables, books, and files lie in heaps of blackened debris. Walls are stained with ash. Floors are layered with fragments of a long cultural journey.

Dhaka Theatre has announced a series of events to mark the death anniversary of Natyacharya Selim Al Deen, who passed away on January 14, 2008.

The story is set aboard a passenger ship travelling from Vietnam’s port city of Haiphong to London. The central characters are Sofia, her husband David, and their teenage daughter Jenny, who board the vessel carrying an unsettled past and a life shaped by silence.

A corner of Alliance Française de Dhaka’s Galerie Zoom has been transformed into a time capsule, where three teenage artists come together to tell a story that feels both tender and universal. “Convergence” is less about spectacle and more about memory — about how friendship forms, stretches across distance, and learns to say goodbye without ever fully letting go.

Displayed across the gallery walls, the works present personal yet collective messages addressed to the children of Palestine, shaped by empathy, resilience, and lived understanding. Through uncomplicated visuals, handwritten words, and candid imagery, the children articulate solidarity that travels across borders, geographies, and circumstances.

The festival will feature two of Swapnadal’s most acclaimed productions: “Chitrangada”, created in the modern Bangla theatrical style, and Selim Al Deen’s own classical work “Hargaj”.