30 March 2018, The Hague: ‘Shades of Passion’ the first ever art exhibition of forty different artists of Bangladesh in The Netherlands has been inaugurated in the Atrium City Hall of The Hague today. Hon’ble Deputy Mayor of The Hague H. E Rabin Baldewsingh was the Chief Guest of the ceremony, where eminent Artist of Bangladesh Mr. Rafiqun Nabi was the Guest of Honour. Mr. Nabi is accompanied by two more young artists of Bangladesh Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Ali and Mr. Pradyut Kumar Das.
Total forty paintings of Bangladeshi artists and two paintings of Ms. Anika Ahmed, a Bangladesh origin artist based in the Netherlands have been exhibited. The exhibition is organized by the Embassy of Bangladesh in The Hague, Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. More than 100 guests, comprised of members of diplomatic core, representative of Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local media, members of Dutch Artist community, students, expatriate Bangladesh community gathered in the opening ceremony.
In his opening remarks, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Ambassador of Bangladesh in The Netherlands mentioned about the immense contribution of artists to connect the societies and countries across the border. He highlighted that contemporary generations of Bangladeshi artists are maintaining legacy of their pioneer Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin and Patua Quamrul Hassan very well. He further mentioned that we are honoured to have this exhibition organized in the Netherlands, a country of world renowned artists like Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh – who are the inspiration of the artists of all ages.
Ambassador Belal also highlighted Bangladesh’s recognition for the first time towards graduating to a developing country recently. The United Nations Committee for Development Policy, on completion of its review of the LDC category, announced on 15 March 2018 that Bangladesh has met all the three graduation criteria – Per Capita Gross National Income, Human Asset index and Economic Vulnerability Index. Bangladesh has been sailing through prosperity under the visionary leadership of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina towards realizing the dream of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – a “Sonar Bangla- Golden Bengal”, hunger-free, poverty-free and deprivation-free Bangladesh. He also stated that Bangladesh has been a ‘development surprise’ in the recent years, a development role model in the world.
Ambassador Belal, highlighting deltaic landscape and resilience of both the people of the Netherlands and Bangladesh, urged artists and academics of both the countries to collaborate innovatively towards a secure delta for both of us. Ambassador Belal, referring to legendary artist Rafiqun Nabi’s immortal creation of ‘Tokai’ urged all to do their bit to stand against growing inequality and injustice in the society.
As Guest of Honour of the ceremony, Mr. Rafiqun Nabi presented how contemporary arts are being evolved in Bangladesh and how our contemporary artists are adding new dimensions in this ancient form of art. The Chief Guest H. E. Rabin Baldewsingh, Hon’ble Deputy Mayor of The Hague congratulated Bangladesh for organizing Bangladesh Art Exhibition in the Netherlands for the very first time. He mentioned that as a nation Dutch are connoisseur of art and culture, indeed this is a unique opportunity to exhibit resilience and serenity of Bangladesh in The Netherlands. This exhibition would further strengthen the bondage of two countries. He further stated that Bangladesh has a high sense of culture- be it art, literature or music.
Later, Ambassador Belal along with the chief guest and the guest of honour officially inaugurated the exhibition through ribbon cutting. The exhibition will continue till 13 April 2018. A large number of visitors are expected to visit the two week exhibition.
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