The month-long 19th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh, the largest fine art exhibition in Asia, will kick off today on the premises of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in Dhaka.The exhibition will continue until January 7 next.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the exhibition.
A total of 712 artworks of some 465 artists from 113 countries, including Bangladesh will be displayed in the exhibition.
Supported by Cultural Affairs Ministry, the exhibition will be arranged by BSA.
On the eve of the 19th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh, President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today issued separate messages, greeting all concerned including local and foreign artists, writers, curators and professionals who participated in this exhibition.
In his message, the President said the Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh can play an important role in bringing together, exchanging and matching the contemporary art of the world with Bangladesh's own art style.
The head of the state hoped that traditional beauty as well as the triumph of humanity will be reflected in the artworks of more than 300 artists from 113 countries around the world through the exhibition.
President Hamid greeted all the artists, juries, observers, curators and art-lovers who are going to join the exhibition.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said the greatest Bangalee of all time, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman mentioned Bangalee nationalism as the first and strongest foundation for the establishment of an independent nation-state in the constitution, which developed into a distinct entity through thousands of years of cultural and artistic practice.
The premier said that Bangabandhu established the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy by enacting the 'Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Act, 1974' to continue the development of the country's national culture.
"As the children of the father of the nation, we all brothers and sisters got the opportunity to get training and practice in some branch of art and culture. The artistic talent of my younger brother, the heroic freedom fighter Captain Sheikh Kamal, was particularly noteworthy," she added.
Sheikh Kamal was a shining star of the cultural world, she said, adding that he used to act, sing and play the sitar, a stringed instrument.
Over the past decade, the Biennial Asian Exhibition has gained a global dimension, attracting talented artists from around the world, she said.
This exhibition, initiated by the Awami League-led government, is playing a special role in creating a space for building a sustainable relationship of the country's native culture with regional and international artists and their diverse art and language, she said.
Noting that there is no substitute for art and culture in building a platform for peace against conflict, she said political, economic and social equality is impossible without peace.
She believed that this exhibition will be considered as a milestone achievement in the development of creativity and intelligence in the field of arts.
Both the president and the premier wished success of all the programmes taken on the occasion of the month-long 19th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh.