Nawshaba’s campaign to bring people together amid the pandemic

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, actor Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed's organisation Together We Can, in co-operaton with Mukto Ashor, launched a campaign titled Art for Togetherness 2020. With the motto Dure thekeo jure thaki, shilper shoktite, the Art for Togetherness 2020 campaign would provide an opportunity to people from all across the country to demonstrate their creative talents on a national platform.

Anyone from home can participate in the competition which will be held online on the following categories: photography, painting, cartoon, sculpture, illustration, instrumental, songwriting, short story, poem and short film. There is a children’s category as well, in which children under the age of 12 can participate as long as their artworks revolve around the themes of 'I want to break free' and 'we are all one.'

Regarding the response to her project, Nawshaba said to Showtime: “We are overwhelmed by the response. We might extend the deadline to accommodate more participants.”

The paintings and sculptures will be curated by artists Sheikh Afzal, Jamal Ahmed, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Mustapha Khalid Palash and Devdatta Ganguly.

Eminent photographers Mahmud Rahman, Sazzad Hossain, Tahsin Rahman, Shahadat Parvez, Nasif Imtiaz and Mala Mukherjee will curate the photographs.

The short films will be curated by Nurul Alam Atique, Dipankar Dipon, Kamal Bayezid, Leesa Gazi, Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, Anirban Chakraborty and Abhijit Chowdhury.

The curators for the children's category will be Ahsan Habib, Selina Hossain, Jayanta Chatopadhyay, Mohammad Ali Hayder, Bonna Mirza, Nobonita Chowdhury, Monirul Islam, Lutfor Rahman Riton and Smarok Roy.

Anisul Hoque, Rashida Sultana, Shahjahan Shourov, Shubhasish Sinha, Sadik Hossain and Anirban Majumder will judge the short stories and poems. Sabyasachi Hazra, Morshed Mishu, Reesham Shahab Tirtho, Upal Sengupta and Wahid Ibn Reza will curate the cartoons and illustrations. The music submissions will be selected by Shafi Mondol, Rafa, Upal Sengupta, Armeen Musa, Gourab Chatterjee, Russell Ali, Raja Kasheef and Rubaiyat Jahan.

Participants must submit their original and unpublished artworks by midnight on April 29, at [email protected].