2006: A recap

Clockwise (from top): Dancers at The Daily Star's 15th anniversary celebration, a photograph by Shahidul Alam at Chobi Mela IV, Shabnoor in Abu Sayeed's film Nirontor, Lux Channel i Superstar '06 Momo (L) embraced by last year's winner Shanu and veteran baul artiste Shah Abdul Karim (C) honoured at the Citycell-Channel i Music Award '05

Bangladeshi photographers awarded in Japan: Two Bangladeshi photojournalists Shahadat Parvez and Monirul Alam of Prothom Alo were awarded in the 66th International Photographic Salon of Japan, one of the world's largest and most prestigious photojournalism contests. The awards were announced on January 1.

Farida Parven makes waves in Paris: Noted Lalon artiste Farida Parveen performed at the esteemed Théâtre de la Ville, Paris on January 14. The theatre with a capacity to accommodate 1000 people was filled to the brim; some enthusiasts were even waiting outside hoping to hear the idyllic songs of Lalon, made memorable by Parveen.

Fifteenth anniversary of The Daily Star: The Daily Star celebrated its 15th anniversary with a glitzy evening that included who's who in the country as well as foreign emissaries and distinguished journalists from overseas. The event was held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center on February 4. A photography exhibition that displayed memorable images published in the newspaper over the years was held at the premises.

ITI Theatre Festival: The International Theatre Institute Bangladesh Centre (ITIBC) organised its eighth biennial theatre festival from February 21. Twenty-two theatre performances were staged at three venues -- National Theatre Stage, Experimental Theatre Stage and Mahila Samity Stage. In the ranks of the 25-member ITI central committee participating in the gala event were, Jennifer Walpole, executive secretary of ITI central committee; Stephanie Regnar, Nevill Shulman, Tobais Biacone, Zeljka Turcinovic and Fuad Al Shatti.

3rd International Film Festival Bangladesh: Amidst much anticipation, 3rd International Film Festival Bangladesh began on March 1. About 111 films from 60 countries were screened during the 16-day festival. Besides screening films in different categories such as 'International Contest', 'International Showcase', 'Focus of the Festival', 'Retrospective', 'Celebrating 50 Years of Bangladeshi Cinema', 'Tribute', 'Bangla Showcase' and others, seminars on different aspects of cinema were held during the festival.

12th Asian Art Biennale: Inaugurated on March 5, the 12th Asian Art Biennale, one of the most popular biennales in Asia, ended successfully on March 31. 532 artworks by 348 artists of 33 countries, including Bangladesh exhibited and competed in different art forms such as paintings, sculpture, etching, mixed media, installation, calligraphy and others at three galleries -- National Art Gallery in Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Osmani Auditorium and National Museum. Bangladeshi artiste Dhali Al Mamoon received two Grand Prizes. Mrinal Haque and Tejosh Haldar of Bangladesh received Honourable Mention Awards.

Folk Music Festival: A five-day Music Soiree on folk genre organised by the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) at its premises, offered a veritable bonanza for folk music lovers. The festival was inaugurated on April 18. The festival featured live performances of Lalon geeti, Bhawaiyya, Chotka, Gambhira and other genres, discussions and special events.

BBC audience selects 20 greatest Bangla songs of all times: BBC conducted an opinion pool on the "greatest Bangla songs of all times". According to the survey Manush manusher jonyo and Amar bhai-er roktey rangano ekushey February came second and third respectively. National anthem Amar shonar Bangla was selected as the greatest Bangla song.

Meril-Prothom Alo Award '05: Meril-Prothom Alo Award 2005 was held on May 12 to honour and inspire talents in the arenas of music, television, filmmaking and modelling. Ferdausi Majumder received the lifetime achievement award for her notable accomplishments and contribution to our theatre and TV. Besides the award-giving ceremony, a glitzy musical programme, a fashion parade and skits based on current social issues entertained the audience.

Lux Channel i Super Star '06: The grand title went to Zakia Bari Momo, who was crowned by the former Lux Channel i Superstar, Shanu. Through winning the title, Momo got the chance to play the lead role in the upcoming movie Daruchini Dwip, based on Humayan Ahmed's popular novel.

Ibsen Commemoration Theatre Festival: The 10-day theatre festival, beginning on May 11, was arranged to mark the centenary death anniversary of the great Norwegian playwright Henrik Johan Ibsen. The festival continued simultaneously at two theatre halls of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy-- National Theatre Stage and Experimental Theatre Stage-- in two sections. In the international theatre festival titled "Staging Ibsen in Asia', theatre troupes from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Taiwan and Japan participated.

ATN Taroka Tarokader Taroka: The talent hunt ATN Taroka Tarokader Taroka picked Mohammad Rezwanul Huque (music) from Rangpur and Queen Rahman (acting) from Bogra district as winners. The winners walked away with their laurels-- a flat, a car, Taka 2lakh and loads of gifts each.

Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan passes away: Subcontinental music suffered an irreparable loss with the passing away of shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan in the early hours of August 21. The Times of India, termed his demise as a "personal loss" but said his music "will always be around us".

Hrishikesh Mukherjee passes away: Filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who made a number of films that attained mass popularity like Anand, Guddi and Abhimaan, passed away after a stroke on August 27.

Citycell-Channel i Music Award '05: Citycell-Channel i Music Award 2005, a much-needed boost to our music industry, was held on August 31. The lifetime achievement award went to legendary folk artiste Shah Abdul Karim and other award recipients were Papia Sarwar (Tagore songs), Ferdaus Ara (Nazrul songs), Momotaj (best artiste in folk songs) and Kiron Chandra Roy (best artiste in mystic songs), Cryptic Fate (best underground band), Raya (best upcoming artiste) and late Imran Ahmed Chowdhury Mobin (best sound engineer).

Bengal Bikash: Bengal Bikash stood out in the current fad of talent hunts for its commendable efforts to discover artistes who have taken the less lucrative path of traditional Bangla songs. The talent hunt had five different categories that included Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Sangeet, folk music, songs of three poets (Atul Prashad, DL Roy and Rajanikanto) and modern songs. About 20,000 singers from 20 districts participated in the talent hunt that started in May 2005. The one and a half year long competition ended on September 6 with 15 young artistes receiving Sreshtha Maan, 15 receiving Uttam Maan and the rest of the 100 finalists receiving Shaphal Maan.

Chobi Mela IV: Chobi Mela, the largest photography exhibition in Asia, was held in Dhaka from November 9 to November 30. The festival with more than thousand images had 'Boundaries' as its theme. Chobi Mela IV received more than 300 digital and analogue entries, out of which 44 entries were exhibited at the British Council, National Museum, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bengal Gallery, Alliance Francaise, Goethe Institut, Russian Cultural Centre and Drik. Apart from this, there was a moving exhibition on rickshaw vans. In addition to this, seven workshops and discussion sessions were held at the Goethe Institut, Dhaka. The Daily Star was the media partner of Chobi Mela IV.

Lux-Channel i Performance Award '05: Lux Channel i Performance Award 2005 was held at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium on November 17. More than 40,000 spectators attended the award giving ceremony. The award for the Best Playback (female) went to Sabina Yasmin. Subir Nandi won the Best Playback (male) award. Salauddin Lavlu received the Best Director Award for Molla Barir Bou and Mostafa Sarwar Farooki received the award for Best Director (TV play) for his popular serial 69. Shykh Siraj received the award for the Best TV programme for Hridoye Mati O Manush.

Abu Sayeed and 'Nirontor' receive international acclaim: Filmmaker Abu Sayeed and his movie Nirontor, brought international glory for Bangladeshi cinema. Sayeed's movie received The Golden Crow Pheasant Award (Suvarna Chakoram) at the 11th International Film Festival of Kerala and a Special Jury Award that included a Silver Peacock (Roupya Mayoor) at the 37th International Film Festival of India. The film was presented by banglalink and produced by Impress Telefilm Ltd.