British Council connects youth with heritage

The British Council has recently showcased the activities carried out under its youth-led programme ‘Our Shared Cultural Heritage’ (OSCH).

The activities were showcased in Rajshahi on July 28 and 29, said a statement on Saturday. This project has been designed to connect young people and inspire them to work with cultural heritages through organising a series of trainings and activities.

31 young people from different institutions have been working with cultural heritages since 2021 under this project. It is to connect the heritages to the youth as well as to the wider audience so that people can understand and work on our heritages.

On 28 July, a programme was held at Varendra Research Museum, the research partner of this project. British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson was present at the programme with British Council Bangladesh Director Tom Miscioscia, and other guests in attendance.

During the programme, OSCH Partners and Youth Board gave a presentation explaining the activities conducted so far and then, there was a screening of a short documentary on Varendra Research Museum. Later, the guests were given a tour of the museum, during which OSCH youth board members shared their experiences of working in the museum.

Robert Chatterton Dickson said, “This is a fantastic initiative. Bangladesh is a country with rich heritages and it has a good number of young population as well. So, it’s important to connect this young population with the country’s rich cultural heritages. The British Council’s job is to create such opportunity for young people.”

On 29 July, a tour to Puthia Palace was organised. OSCH Youth Board members described its history to the guests. There was also an open discussion involving OSCH Youth Board members, partners and OSCH UK team on OSCH Year 1 activities and the challenges faced while implementing this.

A group of young people also showcased a scroll with narration called ‘puthi’, an ancient storytelling technique which is linked to Bangladesh’s cultural heritage. It is mentionable that OSCH is a youth-led programme by the British Council that aims to explore the shared cultures and histories of the UK and South Asia.