A display of the exhibition.— Snigdha Zaman

Over 100 pieces of calligraphy and photographs of Islamic heritage sites of Dhaka city are on display at the ongoing exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. 
BSA organized the show celebrating the declaration of ‘Dhaka as the capital of Asian region’s Islamic culture’ by Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), a front organisation of Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which states Dhaka  for 2012.
Foreign affairs minister Dr Dipu Moni inaugurated the exhibition on 14 July as chief guest. Dr Abdul Aziz Othman Altwaijri, director general of the ISESCO, was present at the programme as special guest.
The event titled Celebration of Dhaka Islamic Culture Capital for Asian Region 2012 features works by 30 calligraphists and Hedayetun Nabi’s 30 photographs.
Most of the calligraphy works reflect the cultural values of the Muslim world in Arabic while a few pieces have been experimented in Bangla letters.
Ibrahim Mondol’s works in vibrant rainbow colours catch the attention of the viewers. While most of his works experiment with Arabic, one such dazzling work depicts in Bangla: Matribhasha Banglabhasha Khodar Sera Dan (Bangla the mother language, best gift from Allah).
Ferdous Ara Ahmed in her calligraphies, all in different shades of brown, has created images of flower, star, leaf and others with Arabic letters.
Saifullah Safa’s works create interesting contrast of white and bright colours in most of his canvases. Mahbub Murshid’s art calligraphies give the taste of abstract paintings with delicate use of Arabic letters and unusual forms.
Hedayetun Nabi’s photographs, on the other hand, portrays Islamic heritage of Dhaka city which was established as a capital in 1608 under Mughal rule. Some of the noted historic sites which were built during the Mughal rule in Dhaka including Lalbagh Fort, Hoseni Dalan, Tara Masjid, Ahsan Manzil and others have been presented in his photographs.
The exhibition is open from 11:00am to 8:00pm till today.