The opening ceremony of an exhibition and an open workshop titled ‘Learning from Puran Dhaka: The Urbanity of Occupations along the Buriganga Riverfront' was inaugurated at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka on February 4, 2023.
As special guests, they had the Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union in Bangladesh HE Charles Whiteley, Ambassador of France to Bangladesh HE Marie Masdupuy and Thijs Woudstra, Chargé d'affaires a.i, Embassy of the Netherlands in Bangladesh.
A long-running heritage initiative, ‘River Heritage: Learning from Puran Dhaka', is led by the EUNIC cluster in Bangladesh (Alliance Française, Goethe-Institut, British Council, Spanish Embassy) and the EU Delegation in Bangladesh with support from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bangladesh and with partnership from Dhaka South City Corporation, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Brihatta Arts Foundation, Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute.
Alliance Française of Dhaka invited the ENSAPLV, Ecole Supérieure Nationale d'Architecture de Paris-La Villette, the BVCAO, Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Architecture, recently joined by CAT, College of Architecture Trivandrum to continue the documentation of the old city core of Dhaka, along with BUET and Pathshala.
Over 50 architectural students and faculties from architecture schools in Dhaka, Mumbai, Trivandrum, and Paris will work on the project. They will be split into working groups to investigate topics such as endangered heritage, circular economy, urban agriculture, innovation as part of traditional activities, informal sectors, the way public space is distributed and corporate culture in the eight river docks (ghats) in old Dhaka. Throughout this workshop and exhibition; students will exhibit drawings, maps, sketches, observations, and photographs of old Dhaka.
The exhibition will be open to all at La Galerie till Monday, February 20 2023, from 3 pm to 9 pm.