Shilpakala Padak 2019-2020 to be distributed Sept 22

Shilpakala Padak 2019 and 2020 will be conferred tomorrow at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), Segun Bagicha in the capital.

BSA introduced the ‘Shilpakala Padak’ in 2013 to honour artistes of the cultural arena and their success. However, the award was not conferred in 2019 and the ceremony could not take place in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year the medals for the last two editions– 2019 and 2020 will be awarded simultaneously.

A total of twenty people, including ten in 2019 and ten in 2020 will be awarded.

President M Abdul Hamid will inaugurate the event as the chief guest at 4:30 PM on September 22 through a virtual platform.

Presided over by State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Cultural Affairs Secretary Md Abul Monsur will be present as special guests at the event.

After the award distribution and discussion, a cultural programme performance by the artistes of BSA will be held.

To disclose the information, a press conference was held yesterday in the seminar hall of BSA.

Eighteen cultural personalities and two cultural organisations will receive the award.

The recipients of the 2019 award are– Mohammad Moniruzzaman (instrumental– flute), Lubna Marium (dance), Hasina Momtaz (vocal), Abdul Mannan (fine arts), Masud Ali Khan (dramatics), M A Taher (photography), Shambhu Acharya (folklore), Hasan Arif (recitation), Anupam Hayat (film) and cultural institution Chhayanaut (creative cultural organisation).

The cultural personalities selected for the Shilpakala award 2020 are– Shamsur Rahman (instrumental – shehnai), Shibli Mohammad (dance), Mahmudur Rahman Benu (vocal), Shahid Kabir (fine arts), Malay Bhowmick (dramatics), Shafiqul Islam Swapan (photography), Shah Alam Sarkar (folklore), Dahlia Ahmed (recitation), Shameem Akhtar (film) and Dinajpur Nattya Samity (creative cultural organisation).