Sayeeda Khanum’s exhibition in Chobi Mela O.
The Drik-Path building peeks into the sky in the middle of the busy commercial area of Panthapath, Dhaka. This is where Chobi Mela Shunno (0) is taking place this year. We are all too familiar with this biennale international photography festival that takes place in various venues sprawling across Dhaka. This time around, it is restricted to the walls of the newly built Drik-Path building. We have done 10 editions of Chobi Mela spanning the past two decades. But we are not doing the 11
th edition. Instead, we are doing a special edition of Chobi Mela which properly responds to the situation of the world at present, explains Tanzim Wahab, Festival Director and curator, Chobi Mela (0). The reason behind this conceptualisation was to go back and start anew; which is what the rest of the world is doing by adjusting with the new normal. The word Shunno in Bangla means starting from the beginning. In order to start from the beginning