Bangabandhu-Youth Art Competition begins June 17

A month-long virtual exhibition, part of the program for capital Dhaka serving as the OIC Youth Capital 2020-21, titled ‘Bangabandhu-Youth Art Competition’ is going to begin June 17, organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

A hundred works of art selected in four categories will be displayed in this special virtual exhibition.

The virtual exhibition will be inaugurated on June 17 at 4 pm by State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell as the chief guest. Taha Ayhan, President of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum ICYF, Istanbul, Turkey will also join the event as the guest of honour at the virtual inauguration ceremony.

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Akhtar Hossain, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture Badrul Arefin will also join the inauguration ceremony as special guests, while the Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) Liaquat Ali Lucky will deliver the welcome speech.

The inauguration ceremony will be chaired by State Minister for Culture KM Khalid.

Details regarding this special exhibition were announced at a virtual press conference on Tuesday. BSA Director General Liakat Ali Lucky and Director of Fine Arts Department Syeda Mahbuba Karim were present at the press conference held on the official Facebook page of BSA, hosted by its Public Relations Officer Hasan Mahmud.

A total of 335 artists aged 18-35 from 57 member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other countries registered themselves to participate in the competition from Bangladesh, Asia and other countries of the world. There were four mediums of the competition - Contemporary Art, Calligraphy, Photography and Graphic Design.

Participatory artists competed on six subjects of the paintings, including Bangabandhu and Bangladesh, COVID-19 Pandemic, Humanity in Refugee Crisis, Youth Spirit in Technology, Islamic Art, and Climate Change.

The judges from Bangladesh are Professor Jamal Ahmed, Professor Moinuddin Ahmed, artist Syeda Mahbuba Karim on Contemporary Art; Mustafa Zaman, Mahbub Morshed, Ferdous Ara Begum on Calligraphy, Professor Mamun Kaiser, Professor Naima Haque, artist Farzana Ahmed on Graphic Design and eminent photographer Nasir Ali Mamun, Khandaker Mofizul Islam and M Yusuf Ali on Photography.

Judges who selected the artworks from Asia and other regions are Professor Basma Dajani (Jordan), Ferdous Ara Begum and Mustafa Zaman on Calligraphy; Professor Dr Marcus Graf (Germany), Ahmet Albayrak (Turkey), Kornelija Koneska (Macedonia), Professor Moinuddin Ahmed, Syeda Mahbuba Karim on Contemporary Art, Shaikha Al Marri (Qatar), Professor Naima Haque, Professor Mamun Kaiser on Graphic Design and Murat Gur (Turkey), Mostafa Mahfouz Nouh (Egypt), Nasir Ali Mamun and Khandaker Mufizul Islam on Photography.

Each category will include a grand award comprising a certificate and $2,500. Besides, all four categories will feature 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes for artists representing the three regions. Each 1st prize winner will receive $500 while the 2nd prize winner will get $300 and the 3rd prize winner will receive $200, according to the organisers.

The exhibition will be available for the art admirers at the virtual galleries and websites of BSA and OIC.