The two-day International Disability Arts Festival begins in Dhaka on Friday (April 26). Dhaka Theater and British Council jointly organized this festival. The festival will continue till Saturday night at Shilpakala Academy in Segunbagicha.
“Sundaram”, an organization of disabled artists from eight sections of the country and a theater troupe of disabled artists from Kolkata will participate in it. The festival will have domestic and foreign film screenings.
Minister of Social Welfare Dr. Deepu Moni.
Besides, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, State Minister for Culture Nahid Izahar Khan and Secretary for Culture Khalil Ahmed will be present at the closing ceremony on April 27 at 8 pm.
The organizers informed this information in a press conference organized on Sunday (April 21) at the Nasrul Hamid Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity.
British Council Program Director David Knox discussed the significance of the festival and the role of the British Council. Saeed Ahmed, CEO of research institute IID, participated in the discussion. Handicapped industry organizations are supporting Sundaram and IID festivals. The slogan of this year’s festival is “Together with everyone, we will build a humane world”.
Filmmaker and festival director Nasir Uddin Yusuf Bachchu read the written statement at the press conference.
He said that according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ National Disability Survey Report 2021, 2.8% of the country’s total population has some form of disability or special needs. That is, about 46 lakh people are disabled. They are not visible in any house, any invitation, any social cultural or religious event. This is because, first of all, we are hesitant to go public with them. Secondly, we have not been able to develop our civil society and structures that are disability friendly or have disabled facilities.
He further said, “Eight workshops are organized in each branch of Sundaram in a year. In the last six years, 384 workshops have been held with disabled artists. They were trained by the famous disabled theater director in England, Jenny Selye.”
David Knox said, “The British Council is helping to integrate disabled people into the mainstream of society. This work has been continued for a century with Dhaka theater especially to create opportunities for their participation in art practice. Artists with disabilities have done so much amazing work that their plays will leave the audience in awe. Tears will come to the eyes.
Organized jointly by Dhaka Theater and British Council with the support of Sundaram and Institute of Informatics and Development, the two-day festival will feature various events including theater shows, film screenings, exhibitions, seminars and many more. The dramas will captivate the audience. Tears will come to the eyes.
To participate in the festival https://dare-festival.com. Play tickets must be collected by registering from this link. However, tickets can be collected by registering immediately at the festival center. Tickets are available free of charge.
Five plays will be staged on the main stage of the National Theater every day from 3 pm to 5 pm. First Day Sundaram Production “Noise Shadbye-71”.
After that there will be Sundaram Chittagong’s drama “Swapn Kahan”, Barisal’s “Circus Circus”, Khulna’s “Atapar Karim Bawali” and Rangpur’s drama “Triveni”.
The second day of the festival will feature Sundaram Sylhet’s play “Sangagati”, Rajshahi’s play “Pitrgana”, Dhaka’s play “Kendra Aadhe Surangati Naam Prithivi”, Mymensingh’s play “Kajalrekha” and Kolkata’s Jana Sanskrit Center for the Theater of the Oppressed. Drama “The Waste Land A Journey”.
Bibarta/SB
