Speakers, including journalists, writers, academics and artists on Friday said that youths expressed their thoughts through graffiti during the student-led mass uprising that forced Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India.
They said that graffiti, writings or drawings on walls or other surfaces, became a strong medium to spread the message of protest against fascism.
They made the remarks at a discussion titled ‘July 36 in Graffiti: New Bangladesh Drawn on the Wall’ held at Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium in Dhaka University.
Journalist and researcher Mohammed Mahmuduzzaman delivered the keynote speech and gave a presentation on graffiti drawn during the student-led mass uprising that brought an end to 15 years of Awami League regime.
He said that the graffiti works were not limited to Dhaka, rather graffiti spread across the country like the movement.
Mahmuduzzaman said that youths had the quality to express a serious matter very casually.
‘It is very important to understand the way of youths’ expression without pronouncing their thoughts,’ he said
On one hand, youths protested against different kinds of anomalies and, on the other hand, they expressed their demands through graffiti, Mahmuduzzaman added.
Referring to a graffiti that reads ‘When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes the right’, the presenter said that the youths were very much aware of their rights and they were determined to protest against dictatorship.
Praising the creativity of the youths, he said that protesters were very much united during the movement and the subjects of the graffiti works reflected such unity.
Dhaka University professor Mohammad Azam said that the traditional art forms mostly failed to accommodate the student-led mass uprising instantly. Graffiti and songs appeared as the main art forms during the movement, said Azam.
He also mentioned that the political parties should address the thoughts and dreams of the youths in new Bangladesh.
Poet and thinker Farhad Mazhar, artist Munem Wasif and Dhaka University associate professor Samina Luthfa also were present as discussants at the session.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
