Bangladeshi artist and educator Bishwajit Goswami has been featured at the inaugural edition of Conductor Art Fair, held at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn, New York, marking another significant international presence for Bangladesh’s contemporary art scene.

On the celebrated artiste’s 74th birth anniversary today, veteran actress Ferdousi Mazumder reflected on the man she knew as an extraordinary performer, a gifted storyteller, and a colleague whose absence is still deeply felt.

For veteran theatre personality Mamunur Rashid, the roots of acting trace back not to formal training halls or television studios, but to the vibrant world of jatra pala watched on cold winter nights during childhood. The Ekushey Padak-winning artiste says those early performances — filled with dramatic storytelling, elaborate stagecraft, and emotional intensity — first shaped his understanding of the transformative power of acting.

Fifty years after he died in 1976, Zainul Abedin no longer exists as a living presence. What remains is a body of work that has hardened into history, layer by layer: famine sketches, rural labour scenes, scrolls of catastrophe, and figures that still appear to look back at us with unsettling calm.

The evening featured recollections, poetry recitations, music, dance performances, staged readings, and video screenings from some of Ataur Rahman’s most celebrated productions.

Nazrul’s “Rebel Poet” identity is too constrained to limit him within a single frame. Nazrul’s poetry moves, shifts beyond even its historical significance. They take rebirth, vertebrate, enter speech, then public conscience, and Nazrul returns as chant—becoming the primary language of people’s struggle for rights, carrying an unyielding spirit in every movement when people most need him.

Titled “Confluence”, the curated exhibition brings together around 70 selected paintings created in diverse mediums.

The scent of raw clay, the warmth of terracotta tones, and the stories of generations-old craftsmanship have come together under one roof at the ongoing folk fair “Songs of Fired Earth” at Alliance Française de Dhaka.

These photographs do not ask for pity. They ask for something harder — acknowledgement.

A new addition to Dhaka’s contemporary art landscape, Gallery MAFA has officially begun its journey with the group exhibition “A Graceful Beginning”, bringing together a vibrant collection of contemporary artworks by Bangladeshi artists.

The Department of Printmaking at the University of Dhaka inaugurated its Annual Art Exhibition 2025 on May 11 at the Osman Jamal Auditorium with an award-giving ceremony.

Based on the medieval Bengali retelling of the classic romance by poet Dawlat Wazir Bahram Khan, the production will be staged at Natmandal Auditorium from May 18 to 21 at 7 pm, with two additional shows scheduled for May 22 at 5 pm and 7:30 pm.

Rabindranath’s works come to life in this exhibition through the creations of contemporary artists who were inspired by his unique vision and engage with his timeless ideas.

At the Venice Biennale’s collateral exhibition “Still Joy — From Ukraine into the World”, Bangladeshi visual artist Ashfika Rahman finds herself at the centre of a rare moment of global attention, after her work “Than Para — No Land Without Us” was selected as a New York Times Critics’ Pick among the 6 Must-See Venice Shows.

Centred on the final hour of Ferdowsi’s life, the play portrays the ageing poet waiting outside his home in Tus for the reward promised by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni for completing “Shahnameh”.

In works such as “Oceanic Fury”, “Midnight Storm”, and “Tempest of Paradise”, Ain explores the sea’s dual nature—its capacity for serenity and violence. The ocean becomes a psychic mirror, reflecting inner turbulence alongside external force.

A three-day art exhibition titled “Light from the Inner Soul” is currently underway at the lobby of Cumilla Shilpakala Auditorium, showcasing the creative expressions and inner visions of women through paintings and handcrafted artworks.

An exhibition showcasing portraits of Tagore and Nazrul, created by more than 100 students from 13 schools in and around Dhaka, was also held as part of the event.

Alliance Française de Dhaka and ARTCON are currently hosting “A Shared Condition”, the first solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Mubtasim Alvee, who is pursuing his MFA at the Department of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka. The exhibition explores intrapersonal physical and mental states, connections, and memories that contribute to a collective identity shaped by shared social and political histories.

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has launched a 10-day programme titled “National Cultural Heritage Preservation and Tribute to Eminent Personalities”, aimed at honouring 45 distinguished cultural figures of the country.