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Pushing the boundaries Naeem Huque reveals how this year’s Chobi Mela, Dhaka’s premier international festival of photography, could mark Bangladesh as the non-western capital of photography by showcasing the work of the best in the profession As the ominous blockades sealed off Dhaka in the past weeks, another event, much smaller in size, opened its eyes. The biennial Chobi Mela, the International Festival of Photography, was launched for the fourth time in nine galleries across the city. It features over a thousand photos, glimpses of both our own country, as well as the rest of the world, from a list including many a world famous name. For the most ambitious Chobi Mela to date, the words ‘bigger and better’ were apt.    ‘Ten days before the festival began, we weren’t sure whether there would be civil war, or the military on the streets,’ says Shahidul Alam, the Festival Director for Chobi Mela IV and Managing Director of the photo agency Drik. ‘And now just see the gallery upstairs; people are coming in droves.’ Our conversation sitting at the Drik Gallery was constantly interrupted by the evidence of the festival’s popularity; visitors asking about his exhibition; photographers, amateur and acclaimed, stopping to say hello; even a student asking the type of film he had used in the Brahmaputra series on display. ‘200 Chrome,’ he replied to the latter before turning his attention back to me.    As in every year, Drik’s chief and the rest of his staff are up to their necks in organisational duties for the biennial festival. What had begun eight years ago with the controversial ‘War we Forgot’ exhibition depicting the war of 1971, has grown into internationally recognised event, exponentially expanding both in size and stature. The exhibitions are sprawled across nine galleries including the Shilpakala Academy and the National Museum, a marked increase from the five used last year. Of the 49 separate exhibitions taking places, most are far larger than the ones in previous years.    As in every year, Chobi Mela is defined by a theme, meant to be interpreted by the photographers in their own way; this year’s theme was ‘Boundaries’. ‘The different interpretations of this year’s theme have been through a diverse range of photographic practices,’ says Shahidul. ‘From regular press images, to conceptual and fine art series.’ Two photographers, Abir Abdullah of Bangladesh and Christian Helmle of Switzerland worked specifically on this topic for Chobi Mela. Others provided photos from previous collections, or those that were in progress, and now attuned to the festival’s theme. But simple exhibitions are only part of Chobi Mela’s itinerary. Presentations, debates, lectures, workshops and films add to the thousand or so photographs that are exhibited. And as in the previous Chobi Mela, two exhibitions will be peddled across the city on eighteen rickshaw-vans.    The festival seemed to be on the backfoot from the start, due to the turbulent political situation. But the organisers fears were allayed soon enough by the numbers of visitors even during the blockade. ‘The blockade nearly served to our advantage; it seems that people thought this festival to be important enough to visit despite all that was going on in the streets,’ says festival coordinator Rezaur Rahman.    But agreed on unanimously, by both the participants and the organisers, is naming the most significant improvement of the festival to be the quality of work presented by local photographers. ‘If this had been taken by an American,’ said Morten Krogvold of Contact Press Images, looking at the work of a local photographer, ‘it would have made waves internationally.’ It was not just numbers, but also quality that marked the strong showing in this year’s festival. ‘I’m not sure whether this is due to a greater appreciation for the festival and what it stands for, or simply that local photographers have gained more confidence, but there seems to have been an awakening to the possibilities present fro them,’ says Shahidul. ‘Before, the attitude towards the festival had been a much different one, now it is treated much more seriously, as its international standing has risen considerably.’    One of the biggest attractions to the festival has been the exhibition by Contact Press Images, showcasing thirty years of work. Curated by Robert Pledge, this exhibition at the National Museum allows a look behind the scenes at the work of some of the most talented professionals the world has known. A one-of-a-kind exhibition, it has been tailored especially for Chobi Mela; this is only the third time any such exhibition has been held by Contact Press.    Another of the significant changes in this Chobi Mela has been the increase of the mobile exhibitions that are going around the city. This concept was met with a very large response last time, sometimes even surpassing the popularity of the galleries themselves. ‘We had to seriously consider making the entire festival a mobile one,’ says Rezaur. ‘There are many people that literally won’t even think about entering a gallery, for many reasons. This venture allowed us to reach out to them, and we found that there was a larger audience out there than we had anticipated. It provided an opportunity for the general people to see some of the work.’    Despite all that has been achieved by Chobi Mela in creating a name for itself in the world of international photography, one thing hasn’t changed. It is a story that the organisers will tell every year; the government still remains completely indifferent to it all. For the country that Shahidul terms ‘the non-Western capital of photography’, there is still very little state support. ‘We have had no cooperation or recognition at any level from the government; the state galleries we used would not allow us time to set up, prints were seized at customs (which prompted organisers to physically print all the copies in Dhaka) and we have not even received a letter to permit our opening ceremony that we have already held at a state auditorium,’ says Shahidul.    ‘The government has lost credibility in this matter; Drik has been holding such international exhibitions, and the government’s own attempts at anything comparable have been abysmal. Other countries now look to Bangladesh for leadership in this field, and our government can only remain ignorant to it.’    In two year’s time, Chobi Mela will return to Dhaka again, invariably on an even larger scale. Already, even before this festival’s completion, discussions are being held to choose the theme for the next. By then, the organisers hope to make Chobi Mela an organisation in itself, distributing the workload and making it an independent body. ‘We hope to bring in specialised curators for more of the exhibitions, and to commission work especially for it,’ says Shahidul. Till the next time, Chobi Mela itself will be pushing the boundaries of what we perceive, the ‘South’ or third-world, and it will continue to be a beacon of our country’s emergence in the field. CHOBI MELA IV NOVEMBER 9 — 30 Drik Gallery (House 58, Road,15/A(New), Dhanmondi) By Brahamaputra’s Banks Shahidul Alam (Bangaldesh) Tears Cloud Peace Masaru Goto (Thailand) Alliance Fancaise (26, Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi R/A) Black and White: The Heart of Photography Morten Krogvold (Norway) The Ring Lester V Ledesma (Singapore) Bangladesh National Museum (Nalini Kanta Bhattashali Exhibition Hall, Shahbag) Contact Press: The Art of Photojournalism Curated by Robert Pledge Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (Segun Bagicha, Dhaka) 1200 Miles: Life and Death on the Thai-Burmese Border Jack Picone (Australia) Land of a Thousand Struggles Sohrab Hura (India) Six Photographers from Pakistan Curated by Tehmina Ahmed Refugees in their Own Land Swapan Nayak (India) The Broken People (India, 2006) Gabriela Muj-Lindroos (Romania) A Narrow Road: Boundaries in Dr. JV Larsen’s Career David Larsen (South Africa) Migrations: Images of a Continent in Motion Curated by David Larsen The Life of an Extraordinary Photographer, Kilinochchi 2006 Gajaani (Sri Lanka) TAK-Ukraine after the Orange Revolution John Lambrichts (The Netherlands) Modern American Segregationists David Holloway (USA)    Photographs by Iraqi Civilians, 2004    Fred Ritchin (USA)