Letters
“Fragile Art”
I want to thank SWM for bringing out the cover story titled “Art Pirated” (June 30, 2006). The article had remarkable insight on the fake art in Bangladesh. In fact I have an experience that I would like to share. The incident began when a certain gallery opened at Uttara. The owner sent a flyer to different art lovers including myself inviting everyone to his gallery. Other pressing matters did not permit me to attend the opening ceremony and the owner mailed the opening catalogue to me. As I had my doubts about the authenticity of the work of artist Safiuddin Ahmed, I immediately approached Mr. Ahmed Nazir (Khokon) the son of the artist who verified from his father that the artwork displayed in the gallery was a fake. I contacted the owner of the gallery and told him my findings from the artist's son.
The gallery-owner claimed that the gallery's inauguration was attended by many famous artists of our country and no one raised any objections about this artwork. The artist's community's silent presence in many exhibitions where false art are being displayed help the forgers to boost this trade. Maybe the artists are hesitant that if they make a noise the gallery may curtail the sale of their work or show disinterest in organising their exhibition in the future.
The artist community should voice strong protest whenever there is a blatant display of fake art. We should all remember that if the fakes are allowed to spread so widely the day is not so far that an important part of Bangladeshi art will be lost forever. Since it would be a great loss, it is something worth saving. Fight the fakes or our art will eventually fade into oblivion.
Durjoy Rahman (Joy)
An art collector
Mirpur, Dhaka
Art Piracy
I want to give special thanks to Mustafa Zaman for writing such an informative cover story titled 'Art Pirated' (June 30, 2006). We have learnt a lot of new things about the art scene in Bangladesh that was not imaginable before. The Bangladeshi art scene which was formerly a very thriving one now faces difficulties. 'Fake' and 'forgery' are new words in the art sphere here. If this is allowed to go on, the art practices will fall at a very crucial moment. So the authorities should take proper steps to stop art piracy.
M A Mortuza Ripon
Dept. of English, Jagannath University
Hats off to Italy
The greatest show on earth has finally come to an end and the Italians have showed their vigour, courage and willpower to achieve an unforgettable victory. It was really great to watch. From the very beginning of the world cup, the Italians played very well and they accomplished the job in style.
The tactics of their coach Mercello Lippy and the hard work of players were really commendable. The Italians always had a compact defence and ferocious offence which definitely had the power to shatter the defence of any opposing team. Their midfield was also a combination of aesthetic beauty and superhuman powers which helped them keep the ball constantly in possession. So hats off to Italy.
Shoaib M. Siddiqui
Dhaka City College
Let the Doors of SUST be Opened
While students from different universities are busy dreaming of a colourful future, some unfortunate students like us are facing an uncertain future.
Yes I'm talking about the present condition of the students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), in which after getting admitted I thought I would be part of a glorious history. It's not only me, but all the students of SUST have become part of a shameful history. We feel ashamed to introduce ourselves as a student of SUST. More than two months have already passed and we don't know how much longer we have to wait.
From the very beginning we have become victims of dirty politics and are now accustomed to session jams (we have already lost six months in session jam). We know that the appropriate authorities have the power to stop this deadlock if they want to. Having said that, I would like to draw the kind attention of the authorities and request them to take the necessary steps to let us complete our studies as soon as possible.
Moin Syed
Computer Science & Engineering Dept.SUST
Flawed Government Text Books
Many Universities follow textbooks approved by the Board of Education, which are easily understandable to students from an H.S.C background because the explanations are given mostly in Bangla but they are difficult to understand for students with an A level background.
Beside this, these texts are littered with grammatical and printing mistakes. If books recommended for learning English are incorrectly written or printed students would definitely not learn the right lessons. Many Government approved textbooks on Mathematics have wrong solutions to mathematical problems as a result students end up in a dilemma.
I would request the National Board of Education to seriously look into this matter otherwise the future of hundreds of students will be jeopardised.
Naome Syed
Mohammadpur
"Media and Us"
The Media has brought many changes in our lives. So it is not surprising that many of the things we do in our daily lives are motivated by the thousands of advertisements with their saucy and catchy slogans, serials and movies.
I support Sarah Mahmud's write-up “High Standards, Low Self-esteem” (June 30th, 2006) where she says, "Younger girls who are at the naive stages of adolescence are sucked into this frenzy of media's definition of the 'ideal' woman and are striving to be her." The media is actually misleading the young generation of our society. Teenaged girls are trying to be tan-skinned just because it is the latest fashion. I know girls who play soccer in their extra curricular activities at school just to become tan and impress "the cool guys". It is high time we should stop this and try to know ourselves. Following the trail of the newest trend is not the only thing to do. If we are just trying to be like "that" woman, it isn't really helpful because we are what we are and no matter how much we try we can't actually change it.
Durdana Farid
Sunnydale School
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