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The 9th calligraphy exhibition is going on at the Nalinikanta Bhattashali Gallery of the Bangladesh National Museum in Shahbagh. Inaugurated on May 6, the exhibition will remain open from 10:00am to 5:00pm till May 22 except Thursdays. The Dhaka Sahitya Sangskriti has organised the exhibition as part of its
   regular annual programme on occasion of the holy Eid-e-Miladunnabi.
   Twenty six artistes are taking part in the exhibition displaying some one hundred calligraphies.
   Veteran artiste Syed Enayet Hossain has presented his calligraphies in an abstract way. Mohammad Syful Islam’s works are also attractive which presents the Quranic verses in a semi-abstract form.
   Noted calligraphy artiste Arifur Rahman has tried to bring a technical change in his recent works. Pasting some plates on canvas in a geometrical form, the artist has presented the Quranic verses in an attractive way.
   Some of the artistes, as in the previous years, have used Bangla alphabets presenting
   the translation of the Quranic verses.
   Among them, Ibrahim Mandol’s writing of Bangladesh in Bangla letters is an admirable work. He has painted rural scenes of the country as background.
   Some other artistes have used moral lessons as subjects. They are vocal in their messages against the ongoing spectre of terrorism across the world.
   Aminul Islam Amin’s calligraphy of a Bangla verse, ‘Moder garab moder asha/Amari Bangla bhasha’ and a popular lyric, ‘Amar bhaiyer rakte rangano Ekushey February’ are worth mentioning. In the later work, he has used the image of Shaheed Minar as the background.
   In the inaugural session, the speaker of the Jatya Sangsad, Barrister Muhammad Jamiruddin Sirkar was present as chief guest.

As part of the Ibsen Theatre Festival, ‘Uparwala’, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play Pillars of Society, will be staged today at 7:15pm at the Jatiya Natyashala of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Segun Bagicha.
   The play, adapted by Abdullahel Mahmud, is directed by Shah Alam Dulal and produced by Aranyak Natyadal.
   Mamunur Rashid, Tamalika, Momena Chowdhury, Tushar Khan, Dipa and Mitali are among the cast.
   To comment on the play, Shah Alam said that this play is very much relevant to contemporary Bangladeshi society. According to the director, ‘The play shows the activities of people from the upper stratum of society. Their commitments to society, their attitude to the common people as well as their greed have been presented in the play.’
   The director further said, ‘Ibsen’s observation of human characteristics has fascinated me.’
   Thandu Raihan has worked in lighting while Faiz Zahir has designed the set. Parimal Majumdar has worked on the music.

Artcell- the band’s name speaks for itself and once again, their iconic performance proved to be an exhilarating experience at the Bashundhara Convention Centre on May 12.
   Above all, the concert was the first ever venture in the band history of Bangladesh that featured a band’s newly released album ‘Aniket Prantor’. Thanks go to both ToTo, for their generous sponsorship and Clapper-e-Management for arranging such a huge show. As promised, the show had every event performed at its best level; in some cases, it was more than the best!
   The show started at 6:06pm. An audience of over three thousand burst into cheers when they heard the slow winding guitar-tone chiming and the show-lights illuminating the stage. ‘Leen’ was the first track of ‘Aniket Prantor’ and the number became heavy when Lincoln, the band’s spearhead, struck thrash-styled riffs with his other members.
   ‘Dhushor Shomoy’ was more of a familiar track to the audience for the band had played the number couple of times before the album release. Nevertheless, the huge panel of sound mixing machine and other gizmos boosted the output making it a top-notch performance. The first phase of the show ended with ‘Pathor Bagan’, a very thrash-riff studded track.
   The second phase began with a throttling performance by the duo-vocal of Balam and Lincoln. The Warfaze man sang Artcell’s ‘Onno Shomoy’. Next up was another classy musician Jewel who held the guitar for the rhythm of ‘Rupok- Ekti Gaan’.
   John was the next guest performer who tried to give his full after a loud boo from the crowd. However, Elita, with Lincoln on her side, delivered an excellent performance of ‘Path Chala’ while Tony was on the drums as guest.
   Shakib from Cryptic Fate was stunningly good on ‘Odekha Shorgo’ reaching sometimes, to his highest scale! Also Kammal and Shumon from the famous rock band Aurthohin came on stage to play ‘Olosh Shomoyer Pare’ with Artcell. The biggest guest of the night was Hamin Ahmed of Miles who added his bits and pieces of guitar-tones in the number ‘Opshori’.
   The show ended with the last phase of the performance by guest bands like Eclipse, dNA and Arbovirus. But, Artcell was generous enough to show up again and blast the night with the last track ‘Aniket Prantor’. The standout numbers of the night were ‘Olosh Shomoyer Pare’, ‘Odekha Shorgo’, ‘Smriti Sharok’, ‘Shohid Shoroni’ and ‘Aniket Prantor’.

Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts held a two day discussion programme on May10 and 11 titled, ‘The metamorphosis of the human figure: Artistry of the sub-continent’ at Dhanmondi in the city.
   Abul Mansur, an eminent art critic, professor of Fine Arts at the University of Chittagong spoke on the subject. ‘I have chosen human figure a part of fine arts as a discussion topic because people’s curiosity to know the arts of the human body is universal,’ he said.
   The discussion programme was divided into two days. On the first day, pre- historic period to 1947 was discussed through a slide show while on the second day the time frame covered was 1947 till now. It shows the change of arts on human figure from time to time. Shilpaguru Zainul Abedin’s art on human figure was the keynote of the discussion while the art on human figure of noted artists of present time in Bangladesh were also discussed through slide shows on the second day.
   The fine arts on the human body by different artists from India and Pakistan and two other countries of the sub-continent were also discussed on the second day. ‘Bengal Gallery of fine arts is going to arrange discussion programmes every three months on various topics of fine arts,’ an official said.

Film show
   Academy Film Society
   Touch of Pink, (drama), 91 minutes, Canada, 2004
   06:30pm, Jaijaidin Mediaplex, Love Road, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka
   
   Exhibition
   Solo Art Exhibition
   Untitled 2006
   by Nazia Andaleeb Preema
   from 11:00am to 8:00pm,
   Art & Soul Gallery
   House no. 16, Road no. 36, Gulshan, Dhaka
   Images of Ibsen’s Life and Plays
   5:30pm, (inauguration),
   Organised by Centre for Asian Theatre, Jatiya Chitrashala Plaza, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka
   
   Mrinal Sen’s Birthday Celebration, Bhoban Shome
   6:00pm, House no. 25, Road no. 96, Gulshan-ll, Dhaka
   (Complementary passes available at the Information and Culture Wing, High Commission of India, House no. 2, Road no. 142, Gulshan-l, Dhaka
   
   Theatre
   Aeen by Bhashkar Natyadal
   7:00pm, Nilima Ibrahim Auditorium, Bangladesh Mahila Samity, Bailey Road, Dhaka
   
   Ibsen Theatre Festival
   Sakhi Valobasa Kare Koy
   (An adaptation of ‘Love’s Comedy’)
   Directed by Rashid Haroon of Jahangirnagar University
   5:00pm, Experimental Theatre Hall,
   Uparwala
   (An adaptation of Pillars of Society), Directed by Shahalam Dulal of Aranyak Nattyada
   7:15pm, Jatiya Natyashala,
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy,
   Segun Bagicha,
   Dhaka

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan has said he would like to produce a film in Pakistan.
   In an exclusive interview on the BBC Asian Network’s show, Gagan Grewal, the actor said that he would love to act in Pakistani movies if he was offered the right script
   Gagan Grewal is a new show in Hindi and Urdu and launches on Monday.
   ‘There’s a lot of talent both in India and Pakistan,’ he said. ‘I think the talent in both these two countries should come together and entertain the world audience.
   ‘If the right offer and opportunity comes my way, I’d love to do a movie in Pakistan,’ he added.
   Indian films have been banned in Pakistan since 1965, but Islamabad has recently eased its stance and allowed a couple of Bollywood films to be released in cinemas.
   His latest hit, Rang De Basanti, is a contemporary patriotic tale which has broken box office records.
   The 41-year-old star’s performance in Lagaan (Tax), earned him an Oscar nomination in 2001.
   Khan’s latest film, Fanaa, co-starring actress Kajol, is due to be released on 26 May 2006.