Entertainment Desk

To celebrate its 26th anniversary, Pathshala South Asian Media Institute has organised an exhibition titled “36 (Chhottrish)”. The inauguration of the exhibition will be held at level 8, DrikPath Bhobon in the capital’s Panthapath tomorrow.

Alongside the exhibition featuring a powerful curation of images and installations centered on the July Uprising of 2024, there will be a week-long festival of engaging events, including panel discussions, artist talks, and others, curated and organised by Pathshala students.

About the festival: “36” is a collection of experiences of students of Pathshala. These stories navigate the turbulent tides of change, celebrating the courage and irrepressible strength of the protesters and people who endured the struggle for democracy. This festival is dedicated to their spirit of revolution, which ultimately overthrew an autocratic regime.

At its core, this festival stands as a tribute to the July Uprising of 2024, a tipping point in Bangladesh’s history. It is a celebration of the aura of free will that emerged when oppressive structures cracked, and when courage overshadowed fear. But it is also a moment of mourning—a solemn acknowledgment of the innocent students and civilians whose lives were sacrificed in the process.

The images, conversations, and shared spaces of this festival, honour their memory. What this history and bloodshed have taught us is that the problems we confront cannot be resolved within the existing framework, and so it is the framework itself that must crumble.

This festival is also a celebration of 26 years of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute—a space that has nurtured countless storytellers, change-makers, and visionaries. It is an effort to bridge generations, bringing together alumni and current students in a shared moment of reflection and renewal.

The exhibition “36” will be open to the public from 16 to 28 Dec 2024, 3:00pm to 8:00pm every day.