10th Chobi Mela 2019

The 10th edition of Chobi Mela will be held in Dhaka on February 28 till March 9, 2019. Chobi Mela, the international festival of photography since its inception in 2000 has been the most significant photographic event in Asia, and the first of a regular biennale, one that has become one of the highlights of the Asian calendar. It is organised by Drik Picture Library Ltd. and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute.

Take a look at the programme and participating artists , including Chris de Bode (Netherlands), Dayanita Singh (India) and Rafal Milach (Poland), among others.

Chobi Mela X is partly commissioning 13 Bangladeshi artists as Chobi Mela Fellows to produce site-specific artwork. To investigate the theme Place, artists from different backgrounds of painting, drawing, architecture, sculpture, photography, video, sound and installations will expand the possibilities of the medium and test the language of manifestations. These independent projects are nurtured with dialogues and guidance from the festival curators led by Zihan Karim and coordinated by Sarker Protick.

Through this initiative, Chobi Mela aims to support new media artists of Bangladesh to develop their independent projects entailing experimentation and expansion.

Image: from 2019 Chobi Mela project Shilpo Shahor Shapnolok (The Happiest People in the World) is a powerful visual journey that shows how the filmmaker reconnects with four of his old friends in the chaotic city of Dhaka. Filmmaker Shaheen Dill-Riaz, after 10 years of his stay in Germany, traveled in 2003 to his hometown Dhaka – the capital of the alleged paradise and hell.