In observance of the 100th birth anniversary of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, a month-long art and cultural festival has begun at the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) of Dhaka University.
Thirty six artists will be awarded for their outstanding works in arts and culture on December 29, the anniversary Zainul Abedin.
Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, a professor of FFA faculty, and Indian noted artist Golam Muhammad Sheikh will receive special honour in memory of Zainul this year.
Born on December 29, 1914, Zainul Abedin was also the founder of the fine arts faculty at the university.
The FFA faculty celebrates birth anniversary of the artist every year. This year’s festival is featuring exhibition of 500 artworks by teachers and students of the faculty.
The festival began on Thursday through an inauguration of an art exhibition by teachers of the faculty at the Zainul Gallery.
DU Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, as the chief guest, attended the inaugural programme.
FFA Faculty Dean Nisar Hossain and teachers of the faculty were present on the occasion.
Besides, eight departments of the faculty have organised separate exhibitions to showcase works of students of the respective departments.
Moreover, 10 art installations are on display at different corners of the campus.
The festival will also feature a fair and cultural programme at the Lichu Tola from December 26 to 29.
Songs of different genres will be presented at a stage in the fair every day afternoon.
The fair will also feature commemorative speech on Zainul Abedin by different artists.
The month-long festival will also include several seminars in January next year.
Eight keynote papers will be presented in the seminars.
Indian folk art expert Bijan Kumar Dutta and expert of art of small ethnic communities Rakesh Bhoumik will be present at two of the seminars.
The festival has been dedicated to memory of recently deceased master artist Qayyum Chowdhury.