Bangladesh's biggest and best annual art exhibition, titled National Art Exhibition, is set to close tomorrow at 5pm with a panel discussion, and tea party in National Art Gallery auditorium in Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
At the closing ceremony there will be speeches, reflecting on the artworks presented by the artists in the exhibition. The speakers will be, artists Mustafa Zaman, and Shaon Akhand. They will be joined by Professor Mostafizul Haque, from the Dhaka University's Faculty of Fine Arts, for a panel discussion. The closing ceremony will be presided by Director-General of Shilpakala Academy Liaquat Ali Lucky.
The 23rd edition of the exhibition, which began on July 1, is being held at the National Art Gallery, within the compound of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. This year the exhibition features artworks by 310 artists. Among the artworks that are on display, there are 159 paintings, 45 sculptures, 50 printmaking works, 17 crafts, eight potteries, 37 installation, and video installation artworks, and seven performance arts.
A Jury comprising of artists Nasrin Begum, Mostafizul Haque, Sheikh Saadi Bhuiyan, Dr Mohammad Iqbal, and Anisuzzaman have selected the 322 artworks of the exhibition from submissions by 850 artists.
The award ceremony for the National Art Exhibition was held right after the inaugural ceremony on July 1 at the National Art Gallery auditorium. Political Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister, HT Imam, inaugurated the exhibition, and handed over the prizes. The special guests of the inaugural ceremony were former Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, and State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid. The opening ceremony was also presided by Liaquat Ali Lucky.
Artist Kamruzzaman received the grand prize, titled Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award 2019, for his painting Global Warming-2. Tanvir Mahmud received the Shilpakala Honourable Mention Award in sculpture for his work Pronidhan-2. Ruhul Karim Rumee received the same award for Portrait of Ambiguity in the printmaking category, and Rafat Ahmed Badhon received the award for Relation-4 in painting category. Sahid Kazi received the award for installation category for his artwork Golden Fiber.
Uttam Kumer Talukder received the Bengal Foundation Award for Story of Life-1, Faria Khanum Tuly received the Artist Kazi Anowar Hossain Award for Protibimba-4, and Sumon Wahed received the Dipa Haque Award for The Map.
Shilpakala Academy has been organizing the National Art Exhibition since 1975, with the aim of bringing together artists of every background, and age-groups. For the first time in the exhibition's history performance art was included in this year's edition.
