An exhibition titled “The Masculinity Project: Photo/narrative Exhibition and Dialogue” has been inaugurated at the EMK Centre in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.
Designed and conducted by researcher Saad Adnan Khan and photojournalist Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo, the project is a compilation of photographs that showcase “masculinity” of men belonging to the different spheres of society.
Khan and Apurbo interviewed men from different walks of life and asked them, “What does it mean to be a man?”
The men were also asked how they would visually represent their masculinity in photographs. They were asked where they would take the picture, with whom, with what and how, and the pictures were taken accordingly.
Khan and Apurbo collected narratives and took pictures for a year from different parts of Bangladesh, to relocate different kinds of masculinities that exist across Bangladesh.
Some of the most compelling narratives are on exhibit at EMK center, from February 27- March 10, 2016 from 10am – 8pm everyday except Fridays.
An open dialogue took place at the venue on Monday that stressed on the importance of talking about masculinity in Bangladesh, engaging men in the discussions around gender and sexuality, varying masculinities on the basis of different locations and intersections such as class, caste, disability, ethnicity, religion, nationality, etc.
The photos and narratives from the project will be used for a flagship course on Men, Masculinities and SRHR at James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University.
