Marking two years since the beginning of Israel’s brutal genocide in Palestine, artists, poets and cultural activists came together at DrikPath Bhaban on Tuesday (August 8) for an evening of defiant cultural resistance.
Titled ‘Two Years of Gaza Genocide’, the event was held in solidarity with the global call for freedom and justice for Palestine. Commencing at 6:00 pm, the gathering turned into a space of remembrance, solidarity and artistic protest where creative expression became an act of witness against atrocity.
The evening opened with a brief speech addressing Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza and the courageous flotillas striving to deliver essential food and medicine to Gazans despite the ongoing blockades.
Farzana Wahid Shayan then took the stage, performing songs of resistance that echoed the struggles of both Palestine and the Chittagong Hill Tracts, each marked by militarized occupation that she attributed to the influence of “Israeli behaviour.”
In the moments that followed, Shayan concluded the performance with a recitation of ‘My Name Is Palestine’ and a rendition of ‘Amar Ekta Dukkher Naam Filistine’. Both pieces echoed the pain and resilience of the Palestinian people, a collective sorrow that now reverberates across the world.
Meanwhile, visual artists Suman Halder, Refat Fatema Anisa and Zannatul Islam Bipa contributed through a live art session, painting vivid expressions of Palestinian endurance and grief, transforming blank canvases into powerful portrayals of the Palestinians’ lived suffering.
In the poetry session that followed, young and veteran voices took the stage to read verses of mourning and resilience. From Ferdous Ara Rumee’s revolutionary lines to newly written poems in both Bangla and English inspired by Palestinian suffering, the recitations reverberated through the hall like echoes from a shared wound.
The highlight of the evening was a theatrical performance: a minimalist yet piercing portrayal of displacement, hunger and the search for dignity amid devastation.
The performers depicted the simple act of eating bread, a once mundane task that has now become a relentless struggle for survival for Gazans, using their bodies to convey both grief and defiance.
Poets Arup Rahee, Soniya Hasan, Rummana Jannat, Munimah Mahreen, Jahid Jogot, Shoikot Amin, Syed Musa Reza, Faiza Ramim, Shaikh Shoyeb and Tahmid Chowdhury lent their voices to the evening through powerful readings of their own poems.
The musical session also featured performances by the troupe Samageet, alongside singers Muiz Mahfuz and Suchi Marma, whose powerful lyrics intertwined with the event’s spirit of solidarity.
Since October 7, 2023, the day Israel’s latest assault on Gaza began, over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them women and children, while more than 169,000 have been injured in the relentless bombardment.
More than an art event, the program at DrikPath Bhaban became a collective act of remembrance and resistance. Through imagery, rhythm and voice, it reminded everyone present that the Palestinian struggle is not a mere a distant conflict. It is also a human tragedy that demands empathy and urgent action.
