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Promoting the flare for photography

What Drik Gallery aims at
4 July 2003, 18:00 PM
LIFESTYLE
By Fayza Haq
4 July 2003, 18:00 PM
The gallery is more suitable for the exhibitions of photographs than paintings.
Drik Gallery began in 1996 when the World Press Photo was first brought to Bangladesh. At that time Drik was a photo-based organization and up till then there was no gallery geared to presenting photographs in particular. After that, every year, there are five major international exhibitions like Chhobi Mela, which is held at other galleries too. "At this photo festival about ten countries send from 25 to 35 entries every two years. We don't confine the exhibitions to our gallery but spread it all over Dhaka. At the same time we kept in mind that photographic exhibitions cannot be held satisfactorily in all galleries. These galleries tend to cater to paintings and handicrafts. The architect who built the gallery kept in mind that the gallery is to primarily present photos. Later the architectural design of the gallery won a prestigious Asian Award," says Rezaur Rahman, team leader of Drik Publications and Event Management Department. It was planned that every year regular exhibitions will be held and at other times the gallery is hired out to others and this is not limited to photography alone.

There is basically one large gallery, which has been divided into three cubicles, which are further more divided into smaller units. In the exhibitions there can be 100 to 130 displays if displayed singly. During the World Press Exhibition as many as 250 works have been accommodated. At this time there were multiple rows of display. As for hire charges, for five days the cost is Tk. 12,000. Upon selection, artists/organisers are required to make a deposit of a non-refundable amount of 30% of the hire charges for a confirmed booking. Each day following the first five days it costs Tk. 1,800 and each day following the first ten days Tk. 1,500. One art piece chosen by the artist/organiser will be kept for Drik gallery free of cost, unless the exhibition is a touring one. In the packages there are certain services that may be availed of such as providing the invitation cards, posters, support of the design and printing. There is also an arrangement for providing a documentary of the programme, which may be in photo or video. The opening maybe in the terrace, or in the old café area if it is a small group of say 70 people.

Among the five main exhibitions held every year there is an exhibition on migrant labour done by different prestigious photo agencies. There is also "Positive Lives" that deal with the lives of those who are HIV Positive and this too is to educate our society. This exhibit is now going from Malaysia to Japan. This will be presented again at Drik next year. Again, every year there is the exhibition of photographers from Drik which is held around September. There is also the annual display of the young photographers, all under 15 years, with the banner "Out of Focus". In a year there are more than 100 exhibitions held at this gallery.

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Talking about the difference between Drik and other galleries, Rezaur Rahman says, "The gallery is most suited to photography and the rooms are lit up in such a manner that the light from the glass is not reflected in the eyes of the viewer. If someone comes here to hang large paintings there might be problems. Again, at Drik, there are many services to promote photography. We also try to put the exhibition on the Internet at a minimum cost. Incidentally, our timings are from 3pm to 8pm."