River Halda flows through the heartlands of Chittagong. It serves as a lifeline to millions living on her banks. An exhibition of photo and video presentation titled Halda: River of Mystery was inaugurated at the Berlin Hall of Goethe Institut in Dhanmondi at Dhaka on 20 July.
Monjurul Kibria, Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Chittagong, inaugurated the event which features the works of eleven students of the Media Studies and Journalism Department of ULAB’s (University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh) apprenticeship programme.
In May 2011 the students’ group travelled to Halda River which is regarded as a breeding ground of carps. During their two-week stay the students accompanied the local fishermen and participated in the collection and hatching of carp spawns of ruhi, katla, mrigel and kalibaush.
The event is comprised of a total of 32 photographs and a 10-minute video which depicts the lives of fishermen who make a living by selling the fry and juvenile fingerlings of carps in hatcheries and markets.
The captivating beauty and fragility of the surrounding eco-system of the river has also come up vividly in the frames and reels of the displayed photographs and video.
“I have always thought of the river Halda from the perception of a biologist but during our carp breeding expedition I saw a completely different side of the river and now I see the Halda with the eyes of a poet”, said Professor Monjurul Kibria while speaking at the inaugural programme. As he further informed, a single female carp helps to earn taka 4 crore while the entire brood stock injects an amount of taka 800 crore into our local economy every year.
The highly appraised video documentary, well-edited and tuned with fitting background music by the participating ULAB students of the Halda tour workshop, turned out to be an enjoyable production which was greatly enjoyed by the guests, mostly students, teachers and high officials at the co-hosting venue of Goethe Institut, Bangladesh, including its director, Judith Mirschberger.
The colours and glistening hues of the kingfisher, the bold and busy probing of the beaks of the brightly shaded black and white storks and spoonbills are simply dazzling along the muddy river banks. The intricate world of insects and the magnificence of the partially overcast milieu have all contributed to the superb accomplishment of the video documentary. The rhythmical assimilation of monsoon rains and rolling thunderstorms, a mysterious yet key factor for the fishes’ natural egg-release procedure synchronised with the flow of the ebb and tide, a critical feature of river Halda, has also been included in the most inspiring documentary.
The displayed photographs have also revealed some particularly beautiful and noteworthy images of the Halda setting, the delicate flora and fauna of the region and the daily lives, families and activities of the local communities. A life-size replica of a shampan boat has also been placed at the venue as part of the show’s visual installation.
The exhibition is open from 10:00am to 7:00pm daily till 04 August.
-With Daily Sun input
