The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh on Tuesday launched a week-long photographic exhibition showcasing Bangladesh’s history through 25 significant objects preserved at Rajshahi’s Varendra Research Museum.
The exhibition offers visitors a rare visual journey into the country’s cultural heritage.
It will continue until Saturday from 9am to 5pm on the ULAB campus in Dhaka, the university said in a press release.
The programme has been organised by ULAB’s Department of General Education and the Center for Archaeological Studies and builds on the Heritage Festival held at the Varendra Research Museum in Rajshahi on 28 November.
The exhibition has been co-curated by the Varendra Research Museum, Durham University’s UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage, and ULAB.
It is supported by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund in partnership with the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
It features photographs highlighting the country’s tangible and intangible heritage through 25 selected objects.
ULAB Acting Vice Chancellor Professor Milan Kumar Bhattacharjee delivered the welcome address at the inaugural ceremony.
“Globally, since 2016, the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund programme has restored nearly 9,500 monuments, artefacts and archives and supported living traditions through 159 projects,” said British Council Deputy Director Maarya Rehman in the press release.
She said the fund is being implemented in Bangladesh for the first time and noted that collaboration among communities, government bodies, cultural organisations and academia can protect heritage threatened by conflict or climate change.
Varendra Research Museum Director Professor Kazi Md Mostafizur Rahman discussed the Cultural Protection Fund-supported capacity strengthening training programme held at the museum.
UNESCO Chair Professor Robin Coningham delivered a presentation titled “Breaking the Myth: Engaging Museum Professionals and Community.”
Professor Shahnaj Husne Jahan, head of the Department of General Education and director of the Center for Archaeological Studies, offered the vote of thanks.
The exhibition drew museum professionals, archaeologists, historians, heritage practitioners and ULAB’s deans, heads, directors, faculty members and students.
Former ULAB vice chancellor Professor Imran Rahman and visiting academics from Durham University were also present.
