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A training programme for puppet drama, organised by FemCom Bangladesh concluded on March 19, in the city.
   Mohammad Rezaul Karim, training director of FemCom Bangladesh, trained 16 persons who belong to the fishing community and come from Bogra and Jessore.
   They are also the members of Loko Sangskritik Dal, a cultural team formed by FemCom Bangladesh; this 40 minute puppet drama aims to create mass awareness on fishing.
   According to the organisers, as puppet dramas are traditionally arranged in different folk festivals across the country, it has a profound impact among rural people. ‘Through the drama, performers will present the affect of the destruction of the habitat of aquatic life,’ they said.
   In the drama, performers will highlight the needs of fish, which provide nutrition. They will also present the affect of current nets and other harmful gears for fishing; the protection of water-bodies and mother fishes are also being highlighted in the drama. It will campaign to create a safe habitat for the breeding of fish.
   The organisers further said that through the drama they will encourage the fishermen to fish in a correct way and make them aware about the importance of ecological balance.
   ‘For the first time, FemCom Bangladesh is using the medium of puppet drama to motivate the fishermen in the country,’ claimed the organisers.
   They also said that they have prepared the script of the drama by consulting with the people, who are involved in fishing. ‘The drama will be staged in different rural areas of the country throughout the year,’ they added.
   The organisers hoped that through this drama performers will be able to hone their talent in presenting a drama with an important social message.
   At the closing ceremony of the training, Mahbubur Rahman Khan, the project director of the department of fisheries said that they want to give messages to the rural people, particularly the fishermen, through entertainment.
   ‘We will give them messages to inspire them to protect existing water-bodies and to recover ones that have been left unattended,’ he added.
   The programme was held under the second phase of the Community Based Fisheries Management Project, supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), UK while the technical support is being provided by WorldFish Centre. Along with the department of fisheries of the Government of Bangladesh, other national and international NGOs are involved in the project; FemCom Bangladesh is also working as the media partner of the whole project.

The Zainul Art Gallery at the Institute of Fine Arts is hosting an art exhibition by 6 contemporary artists and each of the works displayed is brilliant in content and variation.
   The vibrant use of colours and the emotions caught behind those wooden frames can simply be termed amazing. Each painting is massive in terms of size and the most common medium used was oil on canvas.
   As one walks into the gallery and views these artworks, it is evident that there is no dearth of creativity from these artists.
   The circular shaped gallery presents art in every form and the themes are unique and fresh. One painting by Sanjib Das Apu titled ‘inner part of civilization’ conveys the way we, human beings, live in this world with our mixed emotions.
   Shades of grey are the most visible colour used here and the colour red signifies danger.
   The other exhibit which was of interest to the visitors is the painting titled ‘studio outside’.
   This was done by Aowlad Hossain in 1996.
   The painting portrays a wooden armchair where an old tattered coat is hanging and the objects like the book and the glasses are all covered in dust; understandably, this picture depicts the studio of an artist.
   The six artists participating in this exhibition are all ex-students of the Institute of Fine Arts; they are passionate about their work and their zeal to produce more artwork is clear.
   The art exhibition will continue till March 23 and is open for public viewing from 10am to 6pm.

English lessons in schools need to be brought up to date to engage pupils more in literature, the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has said.
   He said English teaching was at a crossroads because of new technologies and a changing cultural landscape.
   Books such as Lord of the Flies appeared on syllabuses year after year. But he said other texts, such as Monica Ali’s Brick Lane, should be used in schools to reflect the diversity of today’s society.
   ‘We need to ask how we can reflect the diversity of the society we live in with reference to the authors we use,’ he told the BBC News website.
   ‘Lord of the Flies is a very good book, but there it is, year after year, for generations on end, while others are in the hinterland.’
   Motion recalled how, when he was studying for A-levels, his teacher encouraged reading widely around the set texts.
   I notice, in my visits to schools, that this wide-ranging reading doesn’t happen any more.
   ‘Appreciation of literature has not been allowed to grow and teachers feel they are letting the side down if they stray off-piste.
   ‘Pupils are being taught in a ‘boxy’ way - it’s a means to an end to pass GCSEs.’
   He also expressed concerns that poems and books were all too often chosen to highlight seperate issues, such as gender or citizenship, rather than for their own literary value. But Motion, who visits one or two schools each week, was keen to stress that teachers were doing ‘an excellent job’.
   Motion was raising his concerns at the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders in Birmingham on Friday.