Folk music festival at Shilpakala
To uphold and promote the folk music of our country has been one of the main objectives of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA).
As part of this initiative BSA arranged a four-day “Loko Saangeet Anushthan 2008″ from May 19 to 22 at the plaza, National Art Gallery, BSA.
Noted folk artiste and exponent Mustafa Zaman Abbasi inaugurated the programme. Poet Asad Chowdhury was the main speaker at the inauguration. Director General, BSA, Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam presided over the event.
In his speech Poet Asad Chowdhury said, “Globalisation and information technology presents many challenges to culture. Folk songs should be promoted strongly to preserve the uniqueness of our culture.”
Asad Chowdhury also urged elaborate studying of books on folklore and folk music. The poet referred to three books — Banglar Baul Gaan edited by Dr Ashraf Siddiqui; and Jukto Bangey Lalon Chorchar Kromobikash and Jukto Bangey Prokashito Lalon Bishoyok Probondho O Tatya Shankalan by Syed Mansur Ahmed.
“A little support can make a difference,” said Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam on the initiative to promote folk songs. “More festivals featuring folk songs should be arranged and people should take interest in listening to the rustic tunes,” Bhuiyan added.
Mustafa Zaman Abbasi emphasised on bringing out more publications on folk music. He said, “There are ten major genres of folk songs — Jari, Shari, Bhatiali, Bhawaiyya and so on. To preserve the songs there should be more publications on them.”
Abbasi added, “Proper initiatives should be taken to record live performances by the folk artistes.”
Sunil Chandra Das, director, Department of Music and Dance, BSA also spoke at the programme.
Each day 22 artistes and three groups performed at the event. Leading artistes including Indra Mohan Rajbongshi, Kangalini Sufia, Kuddus Boyati along with upcoming folk artistes performed at the programme. Twelve folk troupes from all over the country took part at the event.
Though the event featured many folk artistes and groups, as it was held in an enclosed venue, not many were able to enjoy it. Again most of the performers sang only one song, much to the dissatisfaction of the audience.
Source: The Daily Star.
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