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The 1st Contemporary Art Exhibition 2005 presented by Bangladesh Artist Welfare Organization in Zainul Gallery has been inaugurated on February 8 by Mrs.Jahanara Abedin. Eminent artist professor Dr. Abdus Sattar, Director, Institute of Fine Art, University of Dhaka and Ms. Ferdaus Ara Chowdhury Nimmi, Assistant Managing Director, Prime Insurance Company Limited were present as special guests. The exhibition will remain open until February 14 from 11am to 8pm everyday.
   Recently formed Bangladesh Artists’ Welfare Organization (BAWO) has a mission in their agenda. Anwar Hossain, Convener, Managing Committee of the event and editor of Monthly Art News, said that bringing numerous artists and their achievements together they expect a greater unity among these painters. An organization comprising of artists can give courage to those who feel isolated.
   Each of the twenty-five aspiring artists participating in this exhibition has already carved a niche for themselves in the art world. There is literally no scope for monotony in this exhibition owing to the large pool of participants working with diverse media, materials, and technique, needless to mention their individual style. Artists such as Dewan Mizan, Mofidul Alam Khan, Selina Chowdhury, Debashis Pal, Nasimul Kabir, Anwar Hossain has drawn attention to their artefacts by working with less commonly seen media like plastic on rubber, wood relief, wood cut, earthen ware, aluminium cast and lithograph.
   However the other artists who had used the more popular media like acrylic, water colour, oil on canvas have also presented pieces of artwork that are thought-provoking. The exhibition compromises of 36 paintings, 2 sculptures and 3 ceramics handicrafts.
   Md. Azharul Islam Sheikh, Lecturer, Department of Ceramics, Institute of Fine Art who had produced a white clay artefact depicting a human family titled, ‘Relation’ and another terracotta sculpture of a female figure professed about his work, ‘
   The themes of my work mostly concern the relationship in the human community and nature.’
   Another artist Sk.Manir Uddin, Assistant Professor, Institute of Fine Arts had portrayed distorted human forms in deep Cimmerian colours like ash, Prussian blue, black, burnt amber on a white canvas. The painter said that in this painting called ‘Relay Race’ he had initially intended to cut the canvas on the outlines of the forms but did not do it eventually.
   ‘I always attempt to give a three-dimensional touch to my paintings. One can make an observation about my work that they are not the usual neatly done realistic paintings that one will fall in love with it instantly. If I find that my work looks too tidy I deliberately put blotches of colour or smudge with my brush on certain areas’, says the painter about his work.
   The exhibition is sponsored by A.Rahman, a participant of this exhibition who is the publisher of Monthly Art News. ‘An organization of artists of this kind can play a vital role in marketing, publicity, and promotional work of art. BAWO focuses on the same objective as well. We, in favour of the organization, would like exploring the arena of welfare through mutual cooperation among the artists with diverse backgrounds. We are optimistic that we will arrange more exhibitions of other groups of artists in the future,’ says Anwar Hossain, ‘ We believe this combined effort will be able to create a multidimensional presentation on global war, terrorism, inflation of capital globalization, liberation war of Bangladesh and other subjects, such as nature, women, rural life, and love.’

Gombhira, an event which portrays rich heritage of our country, has been performing in Chapai Nawabgonj for years.
   Shamiul Hoque Shoun and Khadizatul Kubra Ara, students of class nine and seven respectively, have become new members of the cast as Nana-Nati (as the show needs two lead characters, a senior and a junior) for gombhira performance. They have been with gombhira for about a year and have earned much popularity.
   Gombhira, a genre of song, is presented by two persons, like grandfather and grandson (nana-nati) through which, the singers portray the faults and follies of the society. A group of musicians also assist them from behind while rendering of the song. The two central characters perform dramatic roles during gaps in the song.
   It is known from an essay by a researcher of folklore that gombhira originated about 1,500 years ago. It was for worshipping Shiva and Mahadev, two legendary characters in the Hindu mythology. So, many know the performance as ‘Shiber Gajan’. It is also learnt that some Sufi masters made gombhira popular in Maldah district from early twentieth century till the independence of India and Pakistan.
   Later, most of the gombhira artistes came to the then East Pakistan and made gombhira popular in Chapainawabganj sub- division.
   Those who were remarkable were Sufi master, Mohammad Solaiman, Mohammad Wajed Ali, Mohammad Mohasin Ali, Mohammad Fazlur Rahman, Tayab Ali, Lutful Hoque and Monirul master. Gombhira in East Pakistan became modified and the existence of Shiva disappeared and the Nana Nati emerged.
   After the independence of Bangladesh, under the patronisation of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Kutubul Alom and Rakibuddin, gombhira got a chance for opening a new era. The patrons made it popular in all corners of the country through radio and television. Later, some more enthusiastic persons called Birendra Nath Saha, Mahbubul Alom, Saidur Rahman, Faizur Rahman Mani, Khairul Islam and others came into the field and worked hard to make the event popular in the locality.
   At present children artistes of gombhira, Shoun and Ara, newly formed group has taken the lead among the other groups. They said that they have been performing gombhira for holding the traditional folk song of the area high. Although she is a girl, Ara expressed her determination to play the role of Nati in gombbira.

Pop diva, actress and budding fashion designer Jennifer Lopez made her New York runway debut on Friday with an eclectic collection that showed she may be able to bring her star power to the world of haute couture.
   The show, which was nothing short of theatrical, featured models in denim shorts and pants, cashmere sweaters, flowered babydoll tops, satin, crystals and lots and lots of fur.
   Supermodel Naomi Campbell strutted down the catwalk in halter-topped jumpsuit with tiered ruffles running down the legs and an enormously wide-brimmed mushroom-like white hat.
   ‘I was very pleasantly surprised,’ Jane Larkworthy, an editor at W magazine, said of Lopez’s new ‘Sweetface’ line. ‘I love satin pants and I love fur.’
   The show was divided into three parts meant to correspond to phases of Lopez’s life: her start in the Bronx, her music career and her current red-carpet lifestyle.
   In the background, yellow neon lights spelled out ‘JLo Story’ during the first phase, then turned into two red turntables for the second, and then into a stretch limo and a velvet rope for the third.
   During the finale, music from her upcoming album, ‘Rebirth,’ boomed in the background.
   The hotly anticipated and celebrity-studded event capped off New York’s twice-yearly Fashion Week extravaganza, which featured the work of more than 60 designers including Kenneth Cole, Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren.
   – Reuters

8:00pm - 8:30pm, Animal Planet
   Saba Douglas-Hamilton, daughter of world famous elephant scientist and conservationist lain Douglashamilton, visits the beautiful Samburu area of northern Kenya in Living with Elephants. This is her favourite study area, and she is apt at naming as many elephants that live there at a glance. The area is close to a tribal war zone, but this does not ruffle Saba. She trusts the local people and depends on their help whenever she requires. But in this adventure, it is pay back time for Saba, as it is her turn to help them now.

11:00pm - 12:00pm, Discovery
   ALCOHOL: One for the Road considers the darker aspects of people's relationship with alcohol and charts stories of painful, drunken degradation and decline, together with powerful tales of recovery and survival. Famous faces pepper the program with recollections of their own routes into alcoholism.
   In blunt and revealing accounts, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and British polar explorer Robert Swan describe how they both reached for the bottle after returning from their amazing journeys. Larry Hagman recounts the drinking habit that pushed his liver to the brink and forced him to undergo a transplant.
   Singer Mary Coughian fearlessly relates the alcoholic binge that cost hera child and almost her life, and Sharon Osbourne recalls the drunken attempts of her husband, Ozzy Osbourne, to strangle her.

Hotshot headline-grabbing lawyer Martin Vail (Golden Globe® winner Gere) gets the case of a lifetime~ Young altar boy Aaron Stampler (Norton) is accused of brutally murdering the Archbishop of Chicago. The case pits Vail against prosecuting attorney Janet Venable (Emmy® Award winner Linney), whose Dast relationship with Vail complicates their courtroom clash.
   Norton's first major Hollywood performances the seemingly innocent and confused altar boy won him the Golden Globe® Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1996.
   HBO
   8:30pm
   Starring
   Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton
   Genre
   Suspense/Thriller