<i>Students, teachers celebrate fine arts expansion</i>
Artist Rafiqunnabi strokes his brush on a canvas to inaugurate an art exhibition at Institute of Fine Arts of Chittagong University yesterday. The exhibition is part of a three-day celebration marking the institutionalisation of fine arts in Chittagong through the establishment of the former Department of Fine Arts in Chittagong University and Chittagong Art College.Photo: STAR
Speakers at a discussion yesterday recalled the contribution of fine arts enthusiasts, students and artists in establishing and expanding fine arts institutions and helping hidden talents flourish in Chittagong. The discussion is part of a three-day programme celebrating the institutionalisation of fine arts in Chittagong through the establishment of Department of Fine Arts in Chittagong University (CU) in 1972 and Chittagong Art College in 1973. Forty Years of Arts in Chittagong Celebration Council organised the programme in the campus of CU Institute of Fine Arts, established in August 2, 2010 by merging the department and college. Addressing the discussion as the chief guest, the college's first principal, artist Sabih-ul-Alam, said the college was founded with the united effort of guardians, teachers and local contributors. He mentioned the problems they faced while collecting the fund for the college building, which was right next to a barn, bakery and a ditch, and getting its affiliation from the education board. He also recalled the contributions of litterateur Abul Fazal and the then Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Muzibur Rahman in funding the college. The principal thanked parents of the students enrolling in the first two batches for having the belief on the college as its future was still uncertain at that time. Renowned artists of the country also reminisced on their student and teaching life in the institutions and how the practice of fine arts flourished in Chittagong. Murtaja Bashir said Chittagong will be the guiding light in new forms of fine arts for the rest of the country just as it was during the political movements since British colonial era. Urging artists of Dhaka and Chittagong to come together, artist Rafiqunnabi said Chittagong artists played a very important role in creating the platform for practicing art and culture. Pranab Das, the first student of the college, said passion for arts was the only driving force inside the 44 students of his batch. Yesterday's programme started with the beating of drums by Sunil Jaladas and his troupe followed by artist Murtaja Bashir's announcement on the programme's inauguration and rendition of songs by artists of Raktakarabi, a cultural organisation. Artist Rafiqunnabi later inaugurated an art exhibition at the campus where sculptor Syed Abdullah Khalid, a former teacher of the department, was present.
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