A mélange of contemporary and traditional art

A display at the Bengal Gallery

Behind the success of the gallery is the Bengal Foundation (founded in 1990), which seeks to promote the arts and culture of Bangladesh. The focus is on music, visual arts and theatre. Explaining the Foundation's main objectives, Luva Nahid Choudhury, director general of Bengal Foundation, asserts, "We want to go beyond the stereotypes of Bangladesh as prone to floods, famine, poverty and illness. There may be shortfalls in funding or education but our aim is to showcase our excellent music and art so that the rest of the world recognises our hidden potential."

On the art front, the Foundation not only hosts exhibitions and discussions. It also organises art workshops and lateral exchange programmes with the purpose of giving an impetus to Bangladesh's art and creating a platform for better exposure of local artists and regional interaction. Among the milestones is the first overseas art workshop held last year in Italywith Bangladeshi and Indian artists. Then the Foundation has launched around 30 video documentaries, which profile artists, significant events, exhibitions and cover musical performances.

Among the objectives in the musical arena are the launch of fine Bangla and classical music on CDs and cassettes, soirees, lecture workshops and demonstrations. One of the Foundation's major projects is Bengal Bikash (the nationwide Bangla music talent search programme) which is to hit the final round this August. Apart from this, the Foundation offers scholarships in music for training under a guru in India, programmes for promoting Bangla music in the country and encouraging and motivating music learning centres across Bangladesh.

In the sphere of theatre, the Foundation seeks to create a platform for dedicated theatre activity, promote new playwrights, actors and directors, facilitate research and training in theatre, provide financial assistance to touring productions and assistance in stage construction, lighting and refurbishing theatres. To the credit of the Foundation, it is the single largest sustained sponsor of theatre.

The Foundation has also ventured into publishing. Among its publications are Jamini, a superbly designed arts quarterly, Kali O Kalam, a monthly Bengali literary journal and ICE Today. Though a bigger reach is aimed at, Luva points out that Jamini has a niche market, while Kali O Kalam, has done well and is acclaimed in Bangladesh and West Bengal, she says.

The Foundation also holds the annual Bengal Baishakh Utsav, with stalls for games and handicrafts and a variety of cultural activities.

Looking ahead, Luva cherishes the dream of stepping out of the Dhaka-centric mode and making cultural inroads at the grassroots level. To some extent, this is already happening with Bengal Bikash, but there is greater room for the promotion of art and music, she believes.