The Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) at Segunbagicha continued to assert its place as the nation’s cultural heartbeat in 2025, hosting a vibrant array of theatre, music, dance, fine arts, and film programmes. While the Academy’s stages, galleries, and open spaces thrived with festivals and exhibitions, administrative changes added a layer of drama behind the scenes.
The year began under the leadership of Professor Syed Jamil Ahmed; however, during the closing ceremony of the Munir Chowdhury First National Theatre Festival in February, he publicly announced his resignation, citing bureaucratic interference and procedural complications.
On March 4, the then-Secretary of BSA, Mohammed Wares Hossain, was made Acting Director General. By September 21, poet and cultural organiser Rezauddin Stalin assumed full responsibility as Director General, following a week-long brief interim charge held by Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs Abul Fayez Md Alauddin Khan.
Departmental leadership also saw changes. In September 2025, several positions were reshuffled: Mustafa Zaman, originally director of Fine Arts, resigned for personal reasons, while Tanzim Wahab moved on to become Director General of the Bangladesh National Museum. Other key directors included Faiz Zahir (Theatre and Film), Mehjabeen Rahman (Music, Dance and Recitation), Abdul Halim Chanchal (Production), and FM Nurur Rahman (Training).
The current board of directors of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy consists of Abdul Halim Chanchal (Fine Arts), Deepak Kumar Goswami (Drama and Film), Daniel Afzalur Rahman (Production), Mehjabeen Rahman (Music, Dance and Recitation), Shaheen Dill-Riaz (Training) and Salma Jamal (Research & Publication).
Cultural highlights of 2025 reflected BSA’s enduring vibrancy, starting the year with Tarunner Utsab, which showcased programmes at district, divisional, and central levels. The Academy also hosted the Munir Chowdhury First National Theatre Festival, the Multilingual Festival, the Chinese Embassy Opera Show, and Debashish Chakraborty’s AR-VR “Poster-e July Obhyutthan” interactive exhibition.
The Kushtia SM Sultan remembrance festival, the 2025 Lalon Festival marking the 135th death anniversary of mystic saint Fakir Lalon Shah, the nationwide commemorations of Rabindranath Tagore and National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and the special recognition event of Bangladesh’s eminent singer Sabina Yasmin further enriched the academy’s repertoire.
Besides these events, large-scale public programs also remained a hallmark for BSA this year. The Chaitra Sangkranti and Pahela Baishakh procession featured hundreds of artists from 28 ethnic communities, while Band Shows and cultural programmes at Suhrawardy Udyan, drone shows and concerts at Manik Mia Avenue, and festive programmes at Nandan Mancha engaged audiences throughout the year.
The first-ever religious and seasonal celebrations included Eid-ul-Fitr, Buddhist Purnima, Eid-ul-Azha, Durga Puja and Christmas, earning acclaim for the organisation. The two-day International Dance Day programme and the 24th New Artists Fine Arts Exhibition further underscored the Academy’s dynamic programming.
Theatre performances from various theatre troupes and events such as the ongoing Jatra Festival marking the month of victory kept audiences enthralled at the National Theatre’s main auditorium, studio theatre, and experimental hall, alongside visiting foreign troupes and artists every now and then.
In 2025, the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy showed that even amid administrative transitions, its commitment to high-quality cultural programmes remained steadfast, reflecting the resilience of the nation’s cultural life. Under new leadership, the Academy reaffirmed its dedication to the media, to preserving the nation’s culture in a more sustained manner.
