After giving up all worldly possessions, they wander the Bangladesh countryside dressed in white robes, singing of peace and love for all with their single-stringed ektaras. Bangladesh’s “mystic minstrels” have long been dismissed as hippies and even attacked and killed after being branded heretics in the country. [caption id="attachment_11190" align="alignleft" width="300"] In this photograph taken on October 18, 2014, a Bangladeshi Baul, or minstrel, sings at the shrine of one of Bangladesh's revered poets and Sufi mendicants in the village of Chheuri...

The ‘French Annual Gala 2014’ was held in Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel at Dhaka yesterday (Saturday). The France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB) has been organizing this event annually since 1997 to celebrate and present the culture of France and Bangladesh. Mr. Tarek Elba, President of CCIFB and also the CEO of Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd; Mr. Bernard Regembal, Consul of the French Embassy; Mr. Pierre Lignot, Trade Commissioner of the French Trade Commission in India and also the Regional Head of Ubifrance; Ms. Rifat Ras...

Towards the end of a session in Dhaka in late November at the Hay Literature Festival, where my book on Bangladesh was launched, when the moderator, Qayyum Khan, also a freedom fighter, opened the floor to questions, one man spoke cryptically, asking me about what can a small country do when it is surrounded by a larger country. He was clearly alluding to India and Bangladesh. I said there were similar concerns in Mexico about the US, in Myanmar about China, and in other smaller countries surrounded by a bigger one. The man seeme...

The Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Foundation Signature Art Prize 2014 Finalists Exhibition, featuring artworks short-listed for the region’s premier juried contemporary art award, has opened to the public on 14 November 2014. Organised by the Singapore Art Museum with the support of presenting sponsor APB Foundation, the Signature Art Prize is a hallmark of distinction awarded to artworks from the region that represent a significant development in Asia Pacific’s contemporary art landscape in recent years.

Singer, songwriter and beatmaker JocElyn ellis and professional DJ Andre “A-Minor” Barden recently traveled to Bangladesh to teach hip-hop. On Nov. 4, the two went to the country as part of Next Level, an international cultural exchange initiative created by UNC Chapel Hill’s music professor Mark Katz. The program selects U.S. hip-hop artists to travel with one of six residency teams to Bosnia-Herzegovina/Montenegro, India, Serbia, Bangladesh, Senegal and Zimbabwe. Each residency team contains 4-5 DJs, emcees, beatmakers and dancers. Their job is ...

Obaidur Rahman is a Dhaka based Bangladeshi singer/musician/songwriter and very recently this young artist has came out with his self-produced debut double albums, titled, Prahelika-1 & Prahelika-2, both of which contain 15 of his original songs. Already the albums have made quite a stir in both the music communities of the capital as well as amongst the music lovers of the nation. Uniquely, unlike other contemporary albums by solo artists, Prahelika-1 & Prahelika-2 are entirely acoustic guitar based studio albums, the first of its kind in the history of Bangladesh’s music scene.