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A rain-washed, somewhat dull Friday evening was coloured with an interesting literary event of ‘sparkling poetry, pungent play and punchy short stories’ at the British Council Auditorium on September 30th.
   ‘Brine Pickles’ is a young, amateur group of writers, poets and playwrights who not only take Creative Writing quite seriously but appear to enjoy every bit of it.
   ‘Brine Pickles’ has been around for two years and is linked with writers from the United Kingdom, under ‘Connecting Futures,’ a youth-based project. Muhammad Saiful Islam, a lecturer at Stamford University in Dhaka, is the coordinator of ‘Brine Pickles’.
   The event on the 30th was the third performance literature session by the group, and consisted of poems, short stories, a play and even a song, all original compositions by the young artistes. Their works were interspersed with snatches of translations by renowned Bengali and Tripura authors as well, hence serving up quite a variety for the literary palate.
   The show opened with a recitation of a poem on women’s rights, followed by a translated work of Academy Award winning Tripura poet, Chandra Kanta MuraSingh.
   The young poet, Munasir Kamal, accompanied her recitation with histrionics, which made the reading rather interesting, but her exaggeration of speech was slightly distracting. Next on stage was another performer who recited an original poem, coupled with yet another translation. The literary pieces presented, encompassed a comprehensive range of issues, from gender, class, ethnicity, to existence, religion, faith and individuality.
   Some of the more memorable performances were by aspiring young poet Fatema Tuz Zahra, who, asides a competent performance, lent a somewhat dramatic effect to her poetry recitation by the usage of a prop–a smoking bottle–, and sitting on an illuminated corner rather than occupying centre stage.
   The impressionistic stage setting with a single prop, a table, was ideal for yet another talented performing artist, Theotonius Gomes, who commanded the audience’s attention with near immaculate diction and affected gestures.
   Faint jazz strains in the background created a mellow atmosphere for his piece on Identity.
   A skit by Tanvir Hafiz, Sabrina F Ahmad, and Quazi Zulquarnain seasoned the programme next. The artistes presented a rather comical sketch on romance on the internet and its pitfalls, which prompted a few chuckles in the audience.
   The short stories were much like insightful or poignant vignettes. One, for instance, depicts a young black boy who is a victim of racism; another, a man brought up in London who develops a distaste for Bangladeshi culture, and yet another, of a young woman who’s father is dying.
   Last but not least was budding playwright, Maliha Bassam’s play, about an adolescent torn between divorced parents. The stylistic touch of creating two separate actors to represent one single protagonist, Anouk, is commendable.
   Anouk’s voice was played with effect by Theotonius Gomes while the physical, tangible, and rather impassive Anouk, was brilliantly executed by Ali Anubhab Rajat. Professor Tahmina Ahmed was the director of the play.
   The show was wrapped up, so to speak, by a duet performance of an original song, entitled ‘Coffee Shop,’ written by Sabrina F Ahmad, and composed by Hasan Ameen. The piece was quite well received by the audience.
   The event truly sparkled and entertained, showcasing a slew of very talented, young writers and poets, who promise to produce more works of quality and literary worth in the future.

Mukh O Mukhosh, a contemporary group exhibition of masks, opened on September 23 at the Galleri Kaya in Uttara. The exhibition was inaugurated by Lorraine M. Barker, the high commissioner of Australia. Eminent cultural personality Mofidul Hoque was also present at the inauguration ceremony.
   Saidul Haque Juise is one of the few, famous artists who make masks in our country. His exhibit is a pair of magnificent paper folding masks, which are not less than eight feet in height.
   The saffron yellow and red printed couple from our folklore ‘Behula and Lakshindar’ is bound to take your breath away.
   The sheer size of this pair is enough to make one understand the amount of work that goes into producing it. The intense joie de vivre of the various colors used for the masks will surely mesmerise audiences.
   ‘The picture is still very fresh in my mind, I used love those saffron yellow, red and black striped cheap paper tiger face masks the wandering hawkers used to sell in days gone by.
   The sight of him would cause children to stir up neighbourhoods, and lead to frenzy. Well those paper masks have now been replaced by plastic ones, I am sure you’ve also noticed that. This only translates into one sad story; our folk arts or crafts are all being lost with time.
   I endeavour to stop such tragic losses of our rich cultural heritage. Also, I want to promote creative artists; it is not mandatory to have certificates to be able to take part in such exhibition. The artist’s work should be his credentials,’ explains Goutam Chakraborty, Director of Galleri Kaya, giving the motive behind holding such a unique exhibition.
   Mukh o Mukhosh is a wonderful journey into the diverse and imaginative world of masks. One has to attend the exhibition to fully comprehend the virility and intensity of this world. Wood, glass, terracotta, papier maché, folded paper, metal, glaze ceramics, draw cord and nylon, embroidered cotton, painted plaster and mixed materials were the mediums used by the 16 contemporary artists.
   The artists have given these materials form, shape and colour to transform them into imaginative and expressive pieces of art that shall enthral its audience. Each mask has a unique expression and thought behind it, dying to tell an interesting tale.
   Tarun Ghosh is the oldest while Kanok Kumar Pathak is the youngest amongst the 16 participating artists in the group exhibition. Other participants in the group exhibitions are Saidul Haque Juise, Masuda Kazi, Kazi Rakib, Shabin Shahriar, Md Abdur Rahim, Rajaul Islam, Azad Mashiuddaulah, Lafiza Najmin, Nasrin Shahriar, Karmakar Buddha, Md. Monirul Islam, Bishwajit Paul, Sandip Kumer Debnath, Rehana Akhter and Kamal Maruf.
   The brilliant 10-day exhibition is comprised of eminent as well as promising young artists of our country.
   The exhibition runs till October 3. The event was sponsored by UNB and Dhaka Courier.

To mark the World Children’s Day, the Dhaka Photographic Institute will organise a five-day photography exhibition titled Bangladesher Shishu (Children of Bangladesh) at its gallery at 400 Uttar Kazipara in Mirpur from October 3.
   Zakiul Haque, the course director of the Dhaka Film Institute, will inaugurate the exhibition and Shahiduzzaman Badal, director of the Dhaka Photographic Institute will chair the opening ceremony.
   There are twenty photographs taken by teachers and students of the Institute which will be displayed in the exhibition.
   It will remain open from 9:00am to 8:00pm till October 7.
   The opening ceremony will premiere a six and a half minute documentary film, titled Tale of Gypsy Children, directed by Shahiduzzaman Badal.
   The film, jointly made by the instructors and participants of the Video Film Making Workshop, portrays the life of the children in the bede (gypsy) community of the country.

The prize giving ceremony of Ananya Eid Fashion Competition 2005 was held at the Jalsaghar of Hotel Purbani on October1.
   The event was organised by Ananya, a fortnightly magazine. Rokeya A Rahman, entrepreneur and advisor in the previous caretaker government was present as the chief guest while Bibi Russell was present as special guest. The event was chaired by Tasmima Hossain, editor of the magazine.
   There were about 150 fashion houses participating in the competition with entries of a variety of design. In order to popularise local apparels, Ananya has been organising this competition for some years now. Representatives from different fashion houses think that the magazine has been quite successful in its attempts.
   Awards were given in 7 categories, among which were saris, fatua, salwar-kamiz, punjabi and the like.
   A jury board selected the best outfits. Sponsored by Anjan, the Best Fashion House award went to Abru Kraft.
   Later, Bappa Majumder captivated the audience with his hit songs.

El Mariachi is back! Heartthrob Banderas (Original Sin, Frida) stars in this action-packed western comedy as a wandering musician who comes to a dusty Mexican border town in search of the drug lord who killed his true love.
   The crime czar's minions are no match for this pistol-packing troubadour as he blasts his way toward a final confrontation... with time out for romance with a sexy store owner Salma Hayek (Frida, Wild Wild West).
   Add Los Lobos' brilliant score to the blazing magnums and you have an irresistible concoction. Don't miss Quentin Tarantino in a cameo.
   Desperado
   9:30pm
   Starring
   Antonio Banderas,
   Salma Hayek