Entertainment Report :
To develop a variety of initiatives, including a multimedia platform with recordings, texts, field-recordings, teaching materials and other relevant documents; Goethe-Institut Bangladesh and the Bengal Foundation jointly organised a two day ‘Expert Meeting for the Documentation, Archiving and Research on Bengali Music’ to present the diversity and history of the musical cultures of Bangladesh in an innovative and stimulating format.
The programme took place recently at Goethe-Institut auditorium located at German Cultural Centre in the city’s Dhanmondi area.
The two-day meeting consisted extensive individual presentations, discussion sessions, and round tables in the fields of musicology, music pedagogy, music documentation, music journalism and safeguarding the diversity of Bengali music as part of UNESCOs’ Intangible Cultural Heritage Programme. The sessions were followed by musical performances on each day. The progamme was graced by the participation of a number of renowned persons from musical fraternity namely musician and researcher Moushumi Bhowmik, Prof Dr Tiago de Oliveira Pinto, UNESCO chair holder at the University of Music in Weimar, Germany, Journalist Kuba Borysiak from Poland and Johannes Theurer form Berlin Germany, IT expert Prof Dr Walter Koch from Graz, Austria, German music pedagogic experts Jörg Sapper M.MUS.Ed. and Dr Eva-Maria v Adam-Schmidmeier, Bangladeshi music professor and researcher such as Dr Sayeem Rana, Sheikh Khalid Hasan, and Dr Saymon Zakaria, as well as Nafis Ahmed from Livesquare, and more. The discussions were also attended by a representative of the UNESCO in Bangladesh.
Philip Kueppers, Director of Goethe-Institut emphasized on developing a multimedia platform in order to expand the access of people all over the world into the culture of Bengali music. In presentations, the contributors pointed out that the visibility and promotion of Bengali music needs to be extended. Moreover, they address various areas where they intend to work on: Music Education, Archiving, Promotion and Field Research. The programme was concluded on the note that all participants are willing to contribute to the design of such a platform. Singer Shyamal Pal and Anima Mukti performed a variety of traditional Bengali songs including Laalon Geeti, Bhatiyali and Bhaoyaiya in the musical performance session by the end of each day.
