Chobi Mela, Asia’s largest photography festival, will launch its ninth edition in February this year. The festival will be inaugurated on February 3 and run till February 16. On the occasion of the upcoming festival, a press conference was held on Monday at Drik Gallery. Festival director, Shahidul Alam, along with the curatorial team, consisting of ASM Rezaur Rahman, Mahbubur Rahman, Munem Wasif, Tanzim Wahab, and one of the guest curators this year, Salahuddin Ahmed, were present at the press conference. The speakers talked about this year’s festival and answered queries to the members of the invited press teams. Chobi Mela, International Festival of Photography, is put together biannually by Drik Picture Library Ltd. and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute. Since its inception in 2000, Chobi Mela has been the single biggest photography event in Asia and the first of a regular biennale. This year’s theme for Chobi Mela is ‘Transition’. This time, the festival is more centralized, as venues are all situated in South Dhaka. The main venue of the event is Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and various venues in Old Dhaka. Pathshala South Asian Media Institute is the educational venue where workshops, portfolio reviews and a few artist talks will take place.
There will be more than 30 exhibitions in total under the theme ‘Transition’. 27 artists from across 16 different countries will come under one banner this February. Exhibitions such as Kanu’s Gandhi by Kanu Gandhi, The Poet with The Camera Photographs of Nasir Ali Mamun/Photoseum (1972-1982) by Nasir Ali Mamun, Native Women of South India: Manners and Customs (2000-2004) by Pushpamala N, United Red Army by Naeem Mohaiemen, Open Wound by Stanley Greene will be a part of Chobi Mela IX, 2017.
First time in its feature, Chobi Mela IX is partly commissioning 10 Bangladeshi artists as Chobi Mela Fellow to produce site-specific artworks for the festival. To investigate the theme Transition, artists from different backgrounds of painting, drawing, animation, sculpture, photography, video, sound and installations will expand the possibilities of the medium and test the language of manifestations. Through this initiative, Chobi Mela aims to support new media artists of Bangladesh to develop their independent projects entailing experimentation and expansion.
In each edition, the festival hosts various workshops by photo practitioners from all around the world. In the Chobi Mela IX, there will have greats such as Anders Petersen who is noted for his intimate and personal documentary-style black-and-white photographs will take the workshop called ‘Instincts’. Boris Eldagsen, Donald Weber and Rishi Singhal will also be taking workshops in this edition. ‘The Photobook Masterclass’ by Marcus Schaden and Frederic Lezmi has already started on January 12 at our educational venue Pathshala South Asia Media Institute. ‘Working Internationally: Strategies and Methodologies’, a workshop by Shahidul Alam, Shafiqul Alam and Abir Abdullah and the Talk by Mary O’ Shea titled ‘Safety in Photojournalism’ are definitely going to be highlighted at the Chobi Mela IX for the young and upcoming photographers and photojournalists.
Mobile exhibitions on rickshaw vans have become a trademark of the festival. They will travel all over Dhaka city and take the exhibitions from door to door. Ensuring the general public’s access has always been an important part of the festival. Admission to the festival is free and everyone is welcome to come and visit. To know more about the festival, please visit the website, www.chobimela.org.