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The two-week international festival Chobi Mela VI, organised by Drik, will end today. This year’s arrangement of the biennial festival was perhaps better than the previous ones in terms of higher number of entrees and venues.Beginning on January 21, over 500 entries from 30 countries featuring ‘dream’ were on display at seven venues, which drew attention of a remarkable number of audiences who visited the festival’s seven venues.
This year’s speciality was the live streaming of the all-evening presentations held at Goethe-Institut, Dhaka. The evening presentations included workshops, digital exhibitions and panel discussions. Those who failed to attend the evening presentations could watch the programme on Internet.
Both the local and international photographers who participated in the exhibition appreciated the initiatives of digital exhibitions and workshops as they had the opportunity of swapping thoughts and ideals on photography.
Another interesting point is that the organisers began mobile exhibitions on rickshaw-vans to reach out to different areas of the city. Most of the entrées of the festival were closely related to dreams, aspirations and longings for something beautiful while some of the displays brought visitors face-to-face with the saddening reality of life.
The highest number of photographs, some 290, on diversified subjects was on display at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy’s National Art Gallery. The venue featured photographs from different countries including Bangladesh, India, Georgia, Australia, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Mozambique and Norway.
One of the most interesting entrées of the venue was American photographer David Burnett’s ’44 Days’ in which he had captured gritty photographs in 1978. A series of photographs portraying the beginning to end of an Iranian uprising was like a story from beginning to end.
The entrées at British Council titled ‘Existence’ by Gareth Philips vividly showcased anguish of terminally ill bed-ridden patients. In contrast, Joanna Petrie’s exhibition titled ‘The Girl Who Fell to Earth’ displayed happiness of a growing child.
The entrée at Dhaka University’s Fine and Arts Faculty of Hungarian photographer Tamas Dezso showcased the increasing urbanisation of the country in ‘Here Anywhere’ while Puerto Rican photographer Karen Knorr’s ‘India Song’ captured the historical palaces of India.
However, there was an allegation that very few local photographers outside the photography school Pathshala got the chance of participating in the international festival.
Denying such allegation, curatorial director of the festival ASM Rezaur Rahman said, ‘We always judge a photograph as a photograph. It doesn’t matter who the photographer is.’ He pointed out that they always welcome more and more local participation–whether from Pathshala or non-Pathshala.
He further said that they had presented visitors with diversified works and had received huge response from the visitors’ side and from both local and international photographers.
The organisers are also gearing up for the next festival scheduled to be held in 2013. Anyone can take part in selection of next year’s theme by casting votes through the organisers’ websites.
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To confront the out-of-focus images of fleeting moments by the internationally acclaimed photographer Laurence Leblanc is an unsettling yet fascinating experience. Born and raised in Paris, Leblanc took courses in design and painting at a very young age. She also trained in engraving at the “Ecole des Arts décoratifs du Louvre”. Eventually, she took to photography and chose childhood as her theme. She made her debut in 1993 with a project on the Droit au Logement (the right to accommodation) and collaboration with the artist Peter Gabriel.The dreamlike images — most of it in black and white — provoke thoughts and questions rather than providing conclusive answers. When asked to comment on the idiosyncratic texture of her photos, the photographer said: “First of all, I never wanted to show reality (in the most literal sense of the word) with details in my work. When I was painting and drawing as a child, I had a fondness for this particular kind of texture — as you’ve called it.” The subject of most of her photos is childhood. The joyful children’s games are overshadowed by an ominous apprehension of violence and memories of terror from the past. The most remarkable aspect of her photos is that they suggest a lot of things that are not visible.
Leblanc has won several prestigious awards including the Foundation HSBC Award in 2003, Kodak Award 2001, and Villa Médicis Award in 2000. In 2009, her exhibition “Seul l’ air” [only air] consisting of images shot in Africa was presented at the 40th International Photography Festival in Arles, France.
Her solo exhibition, titled “Can All Dreams be Found Somewhere Else?” was inaugurated on January 22 at La Gallery of Alliance Française de Dhaka.
The session was presided over by Dr. Shahidul Alam, director of Chobi Mela and Dr. Hameeda Hossain, founder member of ‘Ain O Shalish Kendra’ was present as the chief guest. Apart from the photos exhibited, the highlight of the session was the artiste herself who patiently answered the queries from viewers.
The exhibition ends on February 3.
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]]>More than 500 photographs from 31 countries will be put on display at seven venues in the two-week festival titled ‘dream’.
The festival also includes mobile exhibitions, 34 digital presentations including projection of two films and the staging of a play.
Mario Macilau, David de Souza, Kelly Hussy-Smith, Laurence Leblanc, Nadia Baram and Dick Doughty inaugurated the festival, which began with the screening of video clips on the festival held in previous years.
Speaking at the programme, festival director Shahidul Alam said, ‘Our dream is that the power of arts and the strength of our conviction will triumph. That the power of the gun will crumble before the power of reason and conscience. That through our photography and our story telling we will right the wrongs.’
Pointing out how a photograph of a man being tortured at Abu Gharib prison caught the attention of the world, International Criminal Court prosecutor Dr Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in a special message for the Chobi Mela VI said, ‘Picture promotes change, promotes social change – that’s why this festival is so important.’
Palestinian political analyst Omar Barghouti in a message said, ‘We dream not to escape from reality but to remind ourselves that we can transform it.’
This year, photographs will also be showcased at Alliance Francaise, Asiatic Gallery of Fine Arts, British Council, Drik Gallery, Goethe-Institute and fine arts faculty Lichutala of Dhaka University.
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