Millions of Bangladeshis have placed wreaths at hundreds of Shaheed Minars across the country to pay rich tributes to the language movement martyrs of 1952. The country is observance of International Mother Language Day on Monday, popularly known as Martyrs’ Day (Shaheed Dibas). The memorial for the annual traditional remembrance of those killed when police fired on campaigns on this day, who were demanding Bengali be declared as one of the state languages of what was then Pakistan.
“On behalf of the people of Bangladesh, I welcome the World Cup to Bangladesh,” said the Prime Minister. “Many thanks to the ICC [International Cricket Council] and the BCB [Bangladesh Cricket Board] for working so hard to make this possible. Cricket lovers and fellow citizens, thank you all for your help, cooperation and understanding,”
-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,Bangladesh
According to the DS News paper, the Bangabandhu National Stadium, however, an explosive festival of colour, music, dance and unceasing noise signaled the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 which will be jointly held in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. Amidst flashing strobe lights, fluttery LED kites and a thousand irresistible cheers both in and out of the stadium, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 officially open, thereby checking another box in a long list of achievements for a young nation.
http://www.photojournale.com/categories.php?cat_id=190
Rafiqul has been forced to move 22 times in as many years, a victim of the
annual floods that ravage Bangladesh. There are millions like Rafiqul in
Bangladesh and in the future there could be many millions more if
scientists’ predictions of rising seas and more intense droughts and storms
come true. Bangladesh is a country that stands to be one of the first to
suffer from global climate change, and the time to act is now.
Climate change already touches every corner of the world and every aspect of
people’s lives. As global temperatures increase, its impact will become even
more extreme. The impact of climate change worldwide is already causing food
and fuel crises. World Bank and IMF have sounded a larger alarm pushing 100
million people in low-income countries deeper into poverty.
In Bangladesh we are seeing rice-crises first hand every day. The long
queues on the roadside subsidizing rice sale centers are probably an
indication of the coming hunger, when 30 million people will face
starvation. In Bangladesh natural disasters like SIDR, river erosion,
drought and flood mass migration of people from the countryside to the
cities. Experts say a third of Bangladesh’s coastline could be flooded if
the sea rises one meter in the next 50 years, creating an additional 20
million Bangladeshi displaced from their homes and farms.
Photodocumentary / photojournal by Bangledeshi and Deputy chief photojournalist for
The Daily Prothom Alo newspaper, Monirul Alam
Note : My photo story Published on Photojournle . Please click above link
What of the photography made out of nothing ? What about painting with light? Is it photography ? Surely if we can paint with dreams,create the morning mist or the afternoon glow. Is it face? Hardly. Whatever else may be false in this tenuous existence of ours, imagination is not. All that we value, that we strive to uphold, all that gives us strength,has been made of dreams,and we must dream on. If pixels be the vehicle that realizes our dreams,be it so.
-Pedro Meyer, celebrated Mexican photographer
The biggest Asian photography festival Chobi meal vi kicked off in Dhaka with a vow to fight against injustice around the world. A number of photographers with their cameras march from National Press Club to inauguration venue at National Theatre Auditorium, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Six representative six continents inaugurated the festival Chobi Mela VI, by lighting candelas at exhibition hall.Festival director Shahidul Alam said to media, ” I dream that Chobi Mela will play a role in re-writing the history of photography”.
Some of the biggest name in International photography, including Pedro Meyer (Mexico), Morten Krogvold (Norway), Robart Plege (UK/ France) and Chris Rainier ( Canada) in the inaugural venue. With 29 exhibition featuring over 400 images by photographers from 31 contraries ; 33 digital presentation; 9 workshops conduct by seasoned photographers, mobile exhibitions on 10 rickshaw vans.
Achievement Awards conferred at the inaugural program this year three personalities from different continents- Naib Uddin Ahmed ( Asia/Bangladesh), J.D.Okhai Ojeikere ( Africa/Nigeria) and Pedro Meyer (North America/Mexico) received the awards.
Among the Bangladeshi photographers , Debashish Shome, Munem Wasif and Sayed Asif Mahmud will participant at the festival with their respective stories- Dhaka: My Dreams, My reality. Salt Waters Tears and My City of Uhheard.
Chobi Mela was first held in 2000. The festival Chobi Mela VI will continue till February 3,2011.
My photography set-up an agenda, which is unfolded in our wider world . To me camera is as like a weapon, which I use to make a truth. I recorded many times as an eyewitness. My main interest lies in new era with concerning environmental and social issues. . . monirul alam
Highlights of the Year:
I celebrated my kids [MEGH] 1st birthday which is held on 1st July. I am very happy and really enjoy and spend times with my love ones baby.
I got to go on vacation with my families to St. Martin Island and also had spending a great times fill of happiness.
I continued run my blog and post to sharing my thought with people through my photos which I took https://monirul.wordpress.com/
I uploaded my new works on my Web Site http://monirul.photoshelter.com/
I joined as a VII Visionaries http://viiphoto.ning.com/profile/MonirulAlam member which run VII Photos Agency and met so many great photographers and their works I really learned a lot . . .
I opened a new account Twitter which name is [meghmonir]
Published my Photo Story “People’s Struggle” in the PRIVATE Magazine http://www.privatephotoreview.com/en/review/private.php/riv/73/page/10 to their Winter issue
France 24 Observers http://observers.france24.com/search/node/Monirul%20Alam Published some of my importance news which I covered.
I linked my National & International Publication https://monirul.wordpress.com/category/publication/
Several time I traveled our district town covered assignment for our news paper Prothom Alo and got many impotent issues,which I planning follow up for next year.
I continued published photographers works to my on line magazine BLADE
http://blademagazine.wordpress.com/about/
I experienced to observed a two great photographers presentation Ron Haviv from VII Photo Agency and Philip Blenkinsop from NOOR Photo Agency.Which I knows more about photography and photographer point of view. This presentation conduct by Pathshala & Drik in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
I continued my teaching at Pathshala as a lecturer which I really enjoy with met to a new students .
I think Two Thousand Eleven year will bring peace, promises, success and happiness to all of us and from the past year which is worst we forget it.
Happy New Year to all . . .
South Asian bigest evnt of the Chobi MelaVI – International Festival of Photography will be held from 21 January to 3 February, 2011 in Dhaka Bangladesh and will present the work of creative artists participating from 30 countries. Please see all details . . .
“All that we value, that we strive to uphold, all that gives us strength, has been made of dreams”
Dhaka, Bangladesh. 28 December, 2010: The Chobi Mela VI – International Festival of Photography will be held from 21 January to 3 February, 2011 in Dhaka Bangladesh and will present the work of creative artists participating from 30 countries. The festival with its theme “Dreams” is designed to be a birthplace of ideas, and a crossover meeting point for many artists. It will open a portal to a mystical world of images showcasing new trends in photography and bringing to the fore issues of our troubled world.
The unique festival will be launched on the 21 January, 2011 at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Parallel exhibitions will be held at Alliance Francaise, The Asiatic Gallery of Fine Arts, The British Council, Drik Gallery, The Goethe-Institut and the Lichultala at Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University. In congruence with the exhibitions there will be 8 workshops, 2 portfolio reviews and a week-long discussions, seminars and lectures at Goethe-Institut Auditorium that will initiate debates and discussions on issues central to contemporary photographic practice.
The main attraction on the 22 January at Goethe-Institut will be a video conference with Dr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor, International Criminal Court. In this position, his mandate is to select and trigger investigations and prosecutions of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The first Chobi Mela festival (Dec.1999-January 2000) was launched by Drik and Pathshala South Asian Media Academy to fill the need for a forum for sharing work and ideas, a platform for debate that was missing on this side of the globe. This inaugural festival focused on ‘Differences’ in the world we live in and in a sense was prophetic. The twin towers disaster followed and buried beneath the rubble the freedoms that the world has since lost. “In a world ravaged by war, to turn to ‘Dreams’ after ‘Differences’, ‘Exclusion’, ‘Resistance’, ‘Boundaries’ and ‘Freedom’ is to return to what holds us together in the face of all our obstacles, the focus of all our longings. In a vastly unequal world, it is our insistence on justice and our ability to ride the waves, which still keeps us dreaming,” says Shahidul Alam, Festival Director and Managing Director of Drik. “I dream that Chobi Mela will play a role in re-writing the history of photography, and correcting the extremely Eurocentric version of history that is currently propagated.”
Many bodies of work that went on to become well known were first shown in Chobi Mela. Considered to be the most demographically inclusive photo festival and the resulting pollination has led to many exciting exchanges, and given rise to several new festivals in the region for which Chobi Mela has been the catalyst.
Ensuring the general public’s access is an important part of the festival and admission for the festival is free. Mobile exhibitions on rickshaw vans are now a trademark of the Chobi Mela festivals. The festival provides an opportunity not only to enjoy the outstanding work of national and international photographers but also raises important social issues critical to our existence.
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Chobi Mela Site
Chobi Mela Blog
For more information please contact Chobi Mela Secretariat
Media Manager:
Qamruzzaman:
Tel: +8801911224884
Liason and Communication:
Chulie de Silva:
Tel: +8801927122141
Tags: Asia, Bangladesh, Chobi Mela, culture, Drik, Festival, Pathshala, Photography, Visual Arts
MONIRUL ALAM 