Veteran singers Ashraful Alom and Rafiqul Alam were honoured at the National Rabindra Sangeet Festival for their contributions to Tagore songs. The 33rd edition of the traditional festival was inaugurated on November 25 at the International Mother Language Auditorium, Dhaka.
Bangladesh Rabindra Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha organized the festival after 3 years. Along with other festivities, award giving ceremony was held at the event. Noted vocalists and members of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, Ashraful Alom and Rafiqul Alam were given honorary awards at the ceremony.
Ashraful Alom is simultaneously a reciter, author and cultural activist. The veteran artist was honoured with the Independence Award in 2017 for his literary contributions during the Liberation War.
Another awardee, Rafiqul Alam is an eminent Bangladeshi musician and playback singer who received Bangladesh National Film Award two times for his contribution in film music. He is also an artist of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra.
Minister of state for Cultural Affairs, KM Khalid MP inaugurated the festival and presented the awards. Members of Bangladesh Rabindra Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha were present at the inaugural program of the festival as well.
“Last time we organized the festival live was in 2019,” said musician Pijush Barua, general secretary of the organization. “This edition of the festival is significant for us as we could not organize it properly in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The two-day music festival initiated with the tagline, “Ei jibone betha joto, eikhane shob hobe goto” (All the sufferings of life end here). The organizing panel in a press conference informed that the aim of the festival is to provide necessary exposure to the contemporary artists.
