Revolutioনারী, which combined art and feminism, was a three-day poetry and photography exhibition that was organized by ProjectDebi sponsored by Portland Group and held at the EMK center.
The entire exhibition consisted of 79 frames. The photography exhibition which included 44 frames displayed the celebration of womanhood and feminism through the lenses of young aspirants. The chosen 35 poetry frames worked as the canvas of young poets to spill their creativity and passion.
There were two seminars conducted by Zaiba Tahyya, the renowned CEO of FEM and winner of the Queen’s Young Leader and Awards and Noorin Suhaila Aszad co -founder of Oroddho Foundation. Ms. Zaiba’s seminar focused on addressing worldwide sexualization of women, toxic masculinity, importance of self-defense for women and rape. The other seminar conducted by Ms. Noorin encompassed toxic household, misogyny, patriarchy.
All throughout the three days attendees were seen to be standing around the gallery reading poetries and looking at photographs trying to connect with the artists that created them. The attendees ranged from school students attending in their school uniforms to elderly couples coming to spend a leisurely afternoon.
On the third day, the closing and prize giving ceremony was held. The CEO, the Chief Spokesperson and the Chief Editor all shared their thoughts in short speeches. The uniting factors of their speeches were the initial hurdles and the surprising success of the event. After their speeches the winners were announced and given their prizes. Lastly, there was musical performance to officially close the exhibition.
In the photography section the photographs – I_m_pure, lonely bird and Attohonon secured first, second and third place respectively. The photographs were judged by the former vice president of BUET photographic society, Fahmida Hossain Ela.
In the poetry section, the poems -My Lady Grizzly, Melanin, the poison I passed down to my daughter won the third, second and first prizes respectively.
This was the very first large scale endeavor by ProjectDebi, a youth organization in every sense of the word. All of its members are students and some as young as school students. All of them worked earnestly in between their exams and other deadlines to ensure the success of the event.
When asked to describe the concept of the event the Muhammad Abrar the CEO of ProjectDebi said , “”I believe in the young protagonists that rise like the morning sun in the hearts of my generation. My generation is sleepless for how far their magnitudes are. My generation has the power to create revolutions.
My generation can convey messages of decades through just one camera shot or one metaphor. Their sense of art has the power to leave you wondering or aching for days.
And hence I believe there is no better voice than the outburst of my generation through their works of art.”
The goal of this initiative was to start a conversation around the sensitive topics of menstruation, womanhood, toxic masculinity, patriarchy, among others. Fighting stigmas surrounding menstrual hygiene was one of the core intentions of the organizers. “The generation turned this Exhibition hall into a museum. Their beautiful and strong personalities were reflected all over their masterpieces. I believe in the generation I am born into. I believe there is an artist in all of us and together we can create revolutions through our art. And the sense of awareness and breaking the social stigmas against women were truly elevated through the Exhibition”, Abrar told Upthrust.
The overwhelming support of the attendees and the participants signals hope for the next generation and their role in fighting for equality in Bangladesh.