Cultural Correspondent

The Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) and a cultural organisation called Jion Kathi will jointly arrange a discussion and a cultural programme to mark the 200th birth anniversary of Nikolai Gogol, one of the greatest authors from Russia, today at 5:00pm at the RCSC auditorium in Dhanmandi.
   Jion Kathi will stage a play based on Gogol’s short story ‘Overcoat’. The play, scripted by Milton Mollah, is directed by Zahid Reza Nur.
   The story of the play revolves around the life and death of Akaky, an impoverished government clerk and copyist in the Russian city of St Petersburg.
   Akaky is dedicated to his job, taking special relish in the hand-copying of documents, though little recognised in his department for his hard work. Instead, the younger clerks tease him and attempt to distract him whenever they can. His threadbare overcoat is often the butt of their jokes.
   Akaky decides it is necessary to have the coat repaired, so he takes it to his tailor, Petrovich, who declares the coat irreparable, telling Akaky he must buy a new overcoat.
   April 1 was the 200th birth anniversary of Nokolai Gogol.

The Bangladesh Dance Artistes’ Association organised different programmes in the city on Wednesday, including dance performances, rally and seminar, to celebrate World Dance Day.
   The organisers arranged dance performances under the title ‘Mangal Nrityanushthan’ at Rabindra Sarabar at Dhanmondi in the morning. Dance artistes from different dance schools, both from home and abroad, including Dancers’ Guild of India, Nrityashaily of Sylhet,
   Dhaka-based cultural organisations Dibya Sangskritik Sangathan, Nrityam, Katthak Nritya Sampradaya participa-
   ted in the dance performances.
   The organisers also brought out a colourful rally in the morning from the premises of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Nasiruddin Yousuff, president of Sammalita Sangskritik Jote and also of Gram Theatre, inaugurated the rally.
   Laila Hasan, adviser to the Bangladesh Dance Artistes’ Association, Rahija Khanam Jhunu, president of the Association, Saju Ahmed, the association’s general secretary, among others, also participated in the rally.
   During the inauguration of the rally, Yousuff said, ‘dance art can cross the limits of discrimination of caste and creed. It is only dance by which people of all caste, creed and language can communicate to each other.’
   A seminar titled ‘Why inclusion of dance art is essential in the curriculum of the primary education?’ was also held at the Seminar Room of the National Theatre Hall of the academy.
   Professor Afsar Ahmed of Jahangirnagar University presented the keynote paper while executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra Advocate Sultana Kamal, renowned dance artistes Laila Hasan and Minu Haque and researcher Saymon Zakaria, among others, took part in the discussion.
   Professor Afsar Ahmed in his paper said that dance could also be included in the curriculum of madrassahs.

Popular Bangladeshi novelist Imdadul Haque Milon has been awarded the ‘Bibek Literary Award’ of Bibek Barta in Japan.
   Milon was invited to Tokyo to receive the award in connection with the celebration of Bengali New Year, said a press release on Tuesday.
   There are a number of periodic publications in Japan focusing on the needs of the expatriate Bangladeshi community and some also try to make contribution in the field of literature and culture.
   Bibek Barta is one such periodical that recently introduced the literary award to honour Bangladeshi authors who make significant contribution in exposing the plight of Bangladeshis working abroad.
   The award is the brainchild of Bibek Barta editor PR Placid, who considers this mall endeavour a humble way of encouraging literary figures in Bangladesh to pay attention to the plight of expatriates who are making a meaningful contribution to the country’s economy
   Catherine Makino, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan FCCJ), was present as chief guest at the award giving ceremony.
   In her short speech, Makino thanked the organisers for initiating an award that she hoped would also help introducing Bangladeshi literature to a broader audience outside the country.

First, it was politics, then it was gas. Now, the protracted antagonism between Russia and Ukraine is taking on a literary tinge, as the bickering neighbours vie for the legacy of Nikolai Gogol on the 200th anniversary of his birth.
   Gogol is best known for scathing satirical masterpieces about Russian society such as ‘Dead Souls’ and ‘The Nose’, but he also wrote intimately about his experience of Ukrainian customs in works such as ‘Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka’.
   The writer was born and spent his youth in rural Ukraine - then part of the tsarist Russian empire - in the early 19th century, but wrote in Russian, lived some of his life in St Petersburg and was buried in Moscow. His nationality is the subject of intense public debate as the bicentenary approaches, with both states funding events to mark the occasion.
   Aleksey Vertinsky, an actor at Kiev’s academic youth theatre, told the Ukrainian press he was disgusted at Russian attempts to ‘adopt’ Gogol. ‘They can get lost,’ he said. ‘If I announce this morning that I’m a blue trolleybus, does it mean I should drive off to the depot?’ he added, in an absurdist afterthought that might have appealed to the writer himself.
   But many experts in Moscow argue Gogol is ‘100 per cent Russian’.

Exhibitions
   Lyrical Line
   By Rashed Kamal Russell
   Time: 9:00am to 12:00am and 5:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: April 17 to April 30
   Venue: Alliance Française de Dhaka
   26 Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi
   Dhaka 1205
   
   A Grand Group Art Exhibition
   By 107 Reputed Bangladeshi Artists
   Time: 10:00am to 8:00pm
   Date: April 11 to May 12
   Saju Art Gallery
   DCC North Super Market,
   Gulshan 2, Dhaka
   
   Solo photography exhibition
   Symphony of Nature
   By Khan Rezaul Hoq Bulbul
   Time: 12:00am to 8:00pm
   Date: April 24 to April 30
   Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts
   House 275/F, Road 27 (old),
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   Theatre
   Neel Sindhuria
   By Jiban Theatre
   Time: 7:00pm
   Venue: Nilima Ibrahim Auditorium
   Bangladesh Mahila Samity
   Bailey Road, Dhaka
   Film
   Ratatouille
   Time: 5:00pm
   Date: April 30
   Venue: Goethe-Instituit
   House 10, Road 9
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   
   Two day-long contemporary Russian Film
   By BRAC University Film Club
   Date: April 29 and April 30
   Venue: BRAC University,
   Mohakhali, Dhaka
   
   Screening of Package Drama
   By Television Reporters Association
   Time: 3:00pm
   Date: April 26 to April 30
   Venue: Shaukat Osman Memorial Auditorium,
   Central Public Library
   Shahbagh, Dhaka
   
   Film Show at Star Cineplex
   Monpura
   Rambo 4
   Akash Chhoya Bhalobasa
   Venue: Basundhara City Shopping Mall
   Panthapath,
   Dhaka