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ITI theatre festival inaugurated

ERSHAD Kamol
Theatre activists in Bangladesh greeted the foreign delegates with dance and music at the inaugural programme of the 9th I l l Theatre Festival on February 17. The weeklong theatre festival was inaugurated by Rasheda K Chowdhury, Adviser to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
Bangladesh Centre of International Theatre Institute (BC1TI) and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) have jointly organised the festival where leading troupes of the country will stage their popular productions.
A one-minute silence was observed at the beginning of the programme to pay homage to the recently deceased noted cultural personalities of the country such as Selim Al Deen, Wahldul Haque, Nitun Kundu,
Devdas Chakraborty, Saifuddin Manik and Mahbubul Alam Chowdhury.
The inaugural programme was presided over by BCITI president Ramendu Majumder, who is also the current Vice President of ITI Worldwide Committee. National Professor Kabir Chowdhury; poet-playwright Syed Shamsul Haq; ITI Worldwide Secretary General Tobias Biancone and Korean delegate Jeong-Ok Kim also delivered speeches ar the programme. General Secretary of BCITI,
Ataur Rahman, delivered the welcome speech. Director General of BSA, Quamrul Hassan, ndc, delivered the speech of
felicitation.
On the occasion of the 85th birth anniversary (February 9) of National Professor Kabir Chowdhury, also the founding president of BCITI, he was also felicitated at the programme.
In her speech Rasheda K. Chowdhury said, “The title of the festival 'Whither Theatre' intrigues me most. In fact, we are at a crossroad: Our distinctive cultural heritage is being affected by the 'satellite culture’, where education has become a kind of commodity, and where
women and the underprivileged are being oppressed. I believe upholding our traditional culture, we have to fight against the
evil and try to overcome the impediments.”
Addressing the Adviser to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Ramendu Majumder, in his speech, pointed out the problems that the cultural activists in Bangladesh are facing now.
The speeches were followed by dance performances by the artistes of Nrityadhara. Dance composition Mangalam was directed by Minu Rahman. Directed by Tamanna Rahman the troupe staged a Manipuri dance, titled Dhol and Kartal Chalom. That was followed by Dhamal, directed by Deepa Khondoker.
With a rural Sylheti theme, Dhamal featured the post-
wedding Hindu rituals.
Directed by Munmun Ahmed, a Kathak piece titled Tarana was performed. A 15-minute performance titled Village Fair, directed by Kabirul Islam Ratan, was the last performance of the evening. In the dance performance, the different elements of a traditional village fair were presented by the artistes accompanied by traditional instruments like banshi, dhol and others. All Asgar Khokon did the music direction.