The festival will be held from June 17 to 19 at the Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, with performances beginning daily at 7pm.

Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) has long been known for hosting visual arts and crafts exhibitions alongside its performing arts and cultural programmes. The institution has also played an important role in supporting emerging artists by providing them with opportunities to establish themselves in the world of visual art and craft.

The final scene of William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” is usually one of the most emotional moments in theatre. But a recent performance in the Turkish city of Izmir took an unexpected turn when an uninvited guest transformed the tragic climax into a moment of comedy.

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs has announced a three-day nationwide programme from June 18 to 20 to mark the inauguration of “Nazrul Barsha”, with events planned across all 64 districts and 74 remote or special upazilas of the country.

After the tumultuous 60s, a great number of Bangladeshi artists have carried the torch of artistic practice throughout the next four decades. Their work went through addition, revision, and revolution due to social, political, and religious reasons. But it has remained prominently alive and inspired the next generations of visual artists and art enthusiasts. On the evening of a hot summer weekend, Bengal Shilpalay inaugurated an exhibition featuring these influential artists of Bangladesh who shaped our art and culture.

Alongside the opening production “Chor-er Naam Charandas”, audiences will see “Rina Plung” by Young Bonghung Theatre of Bandarban, “Oedipus” by Drishyakabya, “Cafe de Volte” by Hunt Theatre, “Byatikrom O Niyom” by Prachyanat, “Rongmahal” by Dhaka Theatre, “Mahakaler Antorjatra” by Natyayan of Sylhet, and “The Great Smuggler” by Shobdo Theatre of Jashore on the closing day.

This is the question that viewers see on the wall when they first go to “Baakmuhurto / A Turning Moment” at Shala Neighbourhood Art Space, Aloki. It is a question that we have all thought about, but in different ways. Decolonisation has been injected in our veins for centuries, and everyone has wondered at least once in their lives — Who am I without invasion?

The play explores themes of guilt, love, loneliness, and moral conflict through the inner journey of a man confronting loss and self-realisation. Drawing on Dostoevsky's signature psychological intensity, the production examines the complexities of human conscience and the fragile boundaries between goodness, regret, and redemption.

Memory is rarely linear. It arrives in fragments – through colour, texture, sensation, and fleeting impressions of places once known. In “Earth & Memory”, artist Biplab Biprodas transforms these fragments into a series of abstract works that invite viewers into a deeply personal landscape shaped by nostalgia, nature, and remembrance.

Following months of training and rehearsals, participants presented the inaugural performance of “Dakat Halum Chitpotang” before an audience of parents, guests and theatre enthusiasts.

The evening opened with ensemble recitations of “Charyapada” and “Banglar Mukh”, creating a bridge between the earliest known examples of Bengali literary expression and contemporary poetic voices. Through carefully choreographed vocal performances, the productions highlighted the evolution of Bengali language and literature across centuries.

The programme featured a keynote presentation on Humayun Ahmed’s artistic vision by film researcher Dr Shahadat Ruman.

The performance will take place at Chandler Hall at 6 pm on Saturday (June 6) at the invitation of the Renaissance Drama Society Melbourne. Director Zahid Repon and actress Juana Sobnom travelled to Melbourne on May 29 to participate in the production and related events.

Bengal Shilpalay is set to host “The Long Present”, a major group exhibition bringing together 15 prominent figures of contemporary Bangladeshi art.

Bangladeshi artist and educator Bishwajit Goswami has been featured at the inaugural edition of Conductor Art Fair, held at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn, New York, marking another significant international presence for Bangladesh’s contemporary art scene.

On the celebrated artiste’s 74th birth anniversary today, veteran actress Ferdousi Mazumder reflected on the man she knew as an extraordinary performer, a gifted storyteller, and a colleague whose absence is still deeply felt.

For veteran theatre personality Mamunur Rashid, the roots of acting trace back not to formal training halls or television studios, but to the vibrant world of jatra pala watched on cold winter nights during childhood. The Ekushey Padak-winning artiste says those early performances — filled with dramatic storytelling, elaborate stagecraft, and emotional intensity — first shaped his understanding of the transformative power of acting.

Fifty years after he died in 1976, Zainul Abedin no longer exists as a living presence. What remains is a body of work that has hardened into history, layer by layer: famine sketches, rural labour scenes, scrolls of catastrophe, and figures that still appear to look back at us with unsettling calm.

The evening featured recollections, poetry recitations, music, dance performances, staged readings, and video screenings from some of Ataur Rahman’s most celebrated productions.

Nazrul’s “Rebel Poet” identity is too constrained to limit him within a single frame. Nazrul’s poetry moves, shifts beyond even its historical significance. They take rebirth, vertebrate, enter speech, then public conscience, and Nazrul returns as chant—becoming the primary language of people’s struggle for rights, carrying an unyielding spirit in every movement when people most need him.