A two-day mobile exhibition of the 2024 July mass uprising photographs began in the capital Dhaka on Monday with the exhibition travelling the city areas where the autocratic Awami League regime had faced significant resistance during the uprising.
On the opening day, the exhibition titled 鈥楶hotography during the mass uprising 鈥� July photography: witnesses to history and tools in fight鈥� on five rickshaw vans travelled Dhaka University, Shahbagh, Farmgate, Mirpur and Mohammadpur Beri Bandh area.
Organised by Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, the exhibition was inaugurated by the institute鈥檚 founder Shahidul Alam through an event in the Shoparjito Shadhinota sculpture area on the Dhaka University campus.
The exhibition displaying about 40 photographs of 14 photographers will travel Hatirjheel, Badda, Rampura, Jatrabari and Demra today.
The photographs depict the student-led mass uprising which stemmed from the anti-discrimination student movement and the joint crackdown by activists of the then ruling party Awami League and police on the protesters across the country, which resulted in heavy causalities.
At the opening ceremony, photographer and activist Jannatul Mawa, and photojournalists Ashraful Alom, KM Asad and Jibon Ahmed, among others, shared their experience about covering the mass uprising. The ceremony was moderated by photographer and activist Taslima Akter.
Renowned curator ASM Rezaur Rahman, photographer, curator and teacher Munem Wasif and Pathshala photography head Tanvir Murad Topu, among others, attended the opening ceremony.
Shahidul Alam said that the artists and writers portrayed the uprising staying in safe places, but photographers worked on the streets risking their lives during the uprising to capture every details of the event.
鈥楢 lot of programmes are being held to mark the anniversary of July mass uprising, but auditoriums and galleries are not suitable for mass people who were the key characters of the uprising,鈥� Shahidul Alam said, adding that the mobile exhibition would create interaction with mass people at their own places where they built mass resistance against the ousted regime.
Jannatul Mawa said that the collective trauma of the July mass killing was still alive among people.
鈥楳any of the photographs taken by the brave photographers might not have published in newspapers because of the media house owners鈥� affiliation with the ousted regime, but these photographs are still in the photographers鈥� collection, which people now can watch at different exhibitions and publications,鈥� said Jannatul.
Ashraful Alom said that photographers worked hard during different movements and natural crises with risks, but the struggle of photographers still remained the same after the uprising.
