Chobi Mela, the international festival of photography since its inception in 2000 has been the single biggest photography event in Asia. The ninth edition of Chobi Mela was held from 3 to 16 February 2017 in Dhaka. The British Council was the associate partner of the event. Ensuring the access of the general public has always been an important part of the festival. Admission to the festival was free and everyone was welcome to come and visit.
This year’s theme for Chobi Mela was ‘Transition’.There were more than 31 exhibitions in total under the theme. 27 artists from across 16 different countries came under one banner this February. Aside from galleries, the festival consisted of artist talks and video art. Five workshops by photo practitioners from all around the world were also organised.
This year, Chobi Mela IX has been curated by ASM Rezaur Rahman, Mahbubur Rahman, Munem Wasif, Tanzim Wahab along with festival Director Shahidul Alam, and Salauddin Ahmed and Alexander Supartono as guest curators. Curators played an important role in transforming the public space of the exhibition into a multi-dimensional experience for the audiences. Overall, the festival attracted lots of viewers. Chobi Mela is an international platform that not only united several photographers and artists from around the world in Dhaka but also gave upcoming artists inspiration on how to express their ideas through photographs. Many art connoisseurs are waiting eagerly for the next edition of Chobi Mela which will happen in 2019 and so are we!