Notre Dame University Bangladesh English Club (NDUBEC), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organized a day-long creative exhibition and award ceremony, titled Nizoder Anti-dandruff Shampoo presents NDUB Environment Vanguard Award 2019, on November 15, from 10am to 7pm, at Notre Dame campus. The event was organized to raise public awareness on environment and climate change, and to engage youth in environmental protection and development activities.
Vice Chancellor of NDUB Professor Dr Fr Patrick Daniel Gaffney, Deputy Registrar Dr Fr Leonard Shankar Rozario, Deputy Controller of Examinations Dr Br Leo J Pereira, Founder and President of Green Savers Association Ahsan Rony, UNDP's National Consultant Farzana Ahmed Julie, and internationally-renowned cartoonist Morshed Mishu were present as special guests at the event.
The event featured several competitions, in which participants from across the country competed in three categories: photo-story, visual poetry, and short film. Prominent photographer Hasan Chandan was the judge in the photo-story category. Bishwajit Goswami, faculty of the Department of Fine Arts in Dhaka University, judged the visual poetry category. Fatema Amin, faculty of the Department of Film and Television, Jagannath University, was the judge for short-film category.
After the screening and exhibition of the nominated photo-stories, visual poetry, and short films, the event ended with an award giving ceremony, where 21 young environmental "vanguards" were presented with certificates.
In the photo-story category, Alex Romario (For Next Generation), Morad Ahammad (Threats on the Rise), and Tomal Samad (Stars without Names) are receiving grants of $3,000 (Tk2.5 lakh) as a team to complete a UNDP photo-story project in the coastal belt of Bangladesh, on the effect of climate change upon the inhabitants.
In the short film category, the champion team of Fuaduzzaman Fuad, for the film Salvation of Oxygen, is receiving $3,000 (Tk2.5 lakh) to complete a UNDP short-film project in the coastal belt of Bangladesh on the effect of climate change upon the inhabitants. Further, the runners-up from the short film category, The Makerz consisting of Alex Romario, Simanto Barua, Sayeed Bin Newaz, and Suvendra Lal Tewari, received Tk20,000 as a cash prize, and an opportunity to work with Avant-garde Productions.
Visual poetry champion and runners-up received Tk10,000 and Tk6,000 respectively, and an opportunity to work with Ars Poetica, an international online channel of visual poetry.
Informative sessions
The event started at 11am with the hoisting of the national flag. Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Fr Patrick D Gaffney inaugurated the event. NDUB English Club Moderator Habiba Akter welcomed the participants and guests in her opening remarks and said "there can be no alternative to green revolution."
The morning of the event was full of different informative sessions. There was a workshop titled Keep Creating: Standing Apart with your Photo Art conducted by Radi Shafiq, a visual artist. Shafiq elaborately discussed the process of photography and fine arts with the participants in this session.
There was also a dance recital by Jannat E Nur and Athai Clara Gregory, depicting teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg's speeches.
Renowned photo storyteller Hasan Chandan conducted a session on turning subject photography into stories. Another session was aimed at engaging the audience towards nature. The session was titled Pottery-Play and the participants painted pots in the field to express their creativity.
After lunch and prayer break, a recital performance and lecture session was held by Ahmed Tahsin Shams, lecturer in the Department of English at Notre Dame University. The session was titled Eco-conscious versus Ego-conscious approach in Liberal Arts. Shams gave a theoretical lecture on the connection of aesthetics and ecology. He also shared how 'human voices' oppresses 'non-human voices' by engaging the participants in creative writing.
The strategic partner of this event was UNDP, and the associate partners were Paper Leaf, Green Savers, and Weabers. The print media partner was Dhaka Tribune, TV media partner is Ekattor TV, and radio partner, Radio Dhoni 91.2 FM. Avant-Garde Productions was the creative consultant of the program.
