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The research-based project exhibition by Mashruk Ahmed titled ‘The War Is Not Over Yet’ has begun at La Galerie of Alliance Française de Dhaka, Dhanmondi in the city. The exhibition is curated by ASM Rezaur Rahman.
The inaugural ceremony of the exhibition was held on Friday evening on the gallery premises. Mofidul Hoque, writer, researcher and trustee of the Bangladesh Liberation War Museum, Navine Murshid, writer and associate professor of Political Science at Colgate University, USA, Durjoy Rahman, art collector and founder of the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF), Saiful Huq Omi, photographer and founder of Counter Foto and Francois Grosjean, director, Alliance Française de Dhaka attended the ceremony as the special guests.
This exhibition 'War Is Not Over Yet', is an ongoing research-based project by Mashruk Ahmed. Through the integration of photography, videography, and archival materials, the artist collaborates with women freedom fighters to explore their narratives. The exhibition also aims to provide a sanctuary for their stories and experiences.
Ever since the Liberation War in 1971, the many women who fought for Bangladesh’s independence alongside their male counterparts have not received the recognition that they deserve. Only three have been awarded the title ‘BirProtik’ instead of 426 men. The title ‘Birangona’ (‘war heroine’) was instead given to women survivors of sexual violence during the war. These women soon found themselves exploited once again, often by men who would take for themselves financial rewards promised to the women, leaving them to suffer the stigma of a conservative society alone.
The war isn’t over yet. It is now a war declared on women by a patriarchal society that has stripped them of their identity and selfhood, disregarding all that they sacrificed in the struggle for our independence. This war will not be over until the women who fought for our independence are acknowledged, compensated for their sacrifices, and honoured, as they deserve to be.
Mashruk Ahmed, a freelance documentary photographer born and raised in Bangladesh, pursued his photography studies at CounterFoto and is currently based in Dhaka.
The exhibition is supported by the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF). The exhibition will be open to all, every day from 3pm to 9pm until June 26.
