Asian Art Biennale '08 begins tomorrow
Ershad Kamol
The month-long 13th Asian Art Biennale '08 begins tomorrow and will continue till November 19 simultaneously at three venues -- National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), Bangladesh National Museum and Osmani Memorial Hall.
The internationally reputed art exhibition and competition, organised by BSA, is expected to be inaugurated by Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed at the Osmani Memorial Hall.
Besides 234 artworks from Bangladesh , entrees from 27 countries will be taking part at the exhibition and competition.
Other participating countries at the Asian Art Biennale '08 are Chile , China , Egypt , Fiji , Georgia , India , Indonesia , Iran , Italy , Japan , Kuwait , Malaysia , Maldives , Mauritius , Nepal , Oman , Pakistan , Philippines , Qatar , Korea , Romania , Saudi Arabia , Singapore , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Turkey and UAE.
"A five-member jury committee consisting of senior Bangladeshi artists and critics selected the artworks for the exhibition. Another five-member jury consisting of two Bangladeshis and three foreigners will select the works for three Grand Prizes and Honourable Mention Awards," informed Deputy Director, Department of Fine Arts, BSA.
Other attraction of the biennale is a two-day international seminar titled "Experiments in New Media in Recent Years". The seminar will continue from October 22 to 23 at the Music and Dance Centre Auditorium of BSA.
The number of participating countries is comparatively less than the previous arrangements.
Though invited, this year most of the European countries such as France , Germany and Greece are not participating. Australia , which won one of the three Grand Prizes previously, is not participating this year either.
The 13th instalment of the biennale was supposed to be held last year. But, because of the political situation the biennale was shelved, informed the concerned individuals.
BSA has been organising Asian Art Biennale since 1981.
Source: The Daily Star, Internet Edition, Published On: 2008-10-20
