Marking World Puppetry Day, which was observed on March 21, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) organised an event ‘Jatiya Putul Natya Utsab’ at the Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Thursday.
The festival featured discussion, puppetry shows, and awarded renowned puppeteers of Bangladesh.
At the programme, Dhaka Puppet Theatre presented the puppet show ‘Dusthu Rakhal’ at the Studio Theatre Hall of BSA at 7:30 pm. Earlier in the show, distinguished theatre practitioner and professor in the Department of Drama and Dramatics at Jahangirnagar University Rashid Haroon and theatre personality Golam Sarwar discussed the significance of putul dance.
BSA Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky presided over the event. He highlighted the multi-faceted role of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in promoting puppetry and spreading it as a medium of culture.
This year the honorary award has been given to the proprietor of 'Jhumur Beena Puppet Dance' Champa Begum, an artist from Brahmanbaria. This award is given in recognition of a special contribution to puppetry.
Champa Begum’s 'Jhumur Beena Puppet Dance' has played a role in spreading various messages through puppet shows, along with giving awareness messages to solve various problems of children and teenagers in the remote areas of Brahmanbaria.
Puppetry is a very popular form of theatre performance in the world. Since 2003, World Puppetry Day is celebrated around the world. Since 2013, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy started observing the day to extend the field of puppetry further in Bangladesh.
