The 7th edition of Chobi Mela, an international festival of photography is scheduled to begin from 25 January?7 February 2013. The festival is held once in every two years, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It features print exhibitions, digital presentations, artists? talks, workshops and so on.

Chobi Mela VII
How Chobi Mela Came About
In 1989, Shahidul Alam, a photographer who has since then changed the face of Bangladeshi photography, founded Drik. This is a photo agency devoted to showcasing the works of photographers ignored by the mainstream world. Nearly two decades later, Chobi Mela was born. The biennial has upheld the values of its founder and has tried to lend a platform to those who can truly sense a story. The past editions of the Mela featured themes like Differences, Exclusion, Resistance, Boundaries, Freedom and Dreams. Thus, the Mela has helped conceptual artists and photojournalists explore social inequality in its myriad forms.
A Lineup of Various Talks, Seminars and Exhibitions
The Mela will bring together print and digital presentations that challenge the traditional perceptions of art. It will reach out to the public through galleries at unconventional open-air locations and mobile touring exhibitions. There will also be workshops, discussions, seminars and lectures. Some of the talks lined up for Chobi Mela include those by the 70-year-old stalwart, Graciela Iturbide; the renowned Norweigan portraitist, Morten Krogvold; art historian Christopher Pinney and the founder of Contact Press Images, Robert Pledge. Other names include Munem Wasif, a noted Bangladeshi photographer and Photo Circle, a collective from Nepal.
Want to Travel to Chobi Mela? We Tell You How
In order to visit the festival which is going to be held between 25 January?7 February 2013, you need to get a visa from the Bangladesh embassy in New Delhi or Kolkata. For Indian nationals, a tourist visa to Bangladesh is free. For this, you need to fill up the visa form and send it to the embassy. You can even get your visa done through an agent, but you will have to pay their charges. Then, one option is to book a direct inexpensive flight to Dhaka from New Delhi with BimanAir. You can even fly to Dhaka from Kolkata. Another cost-effective option is to travel to Kolkata by train and then to take a train or a bus across the border to Dhaka.
Shahidul Alam, Founder of Drik, on?Fragility:
What connects photography and the theme,?Fragility? One also wonders how a topic as ephemeral as this, was explained and found expression. We found that as a part of a larger essay on?Fragility, Shahidul Alam wrote, ?The sweeping gestures of photography have thrived on extremes. Great things, epic moments, the wretched, the vile, the dispossessed, the celebrated and the trodden, have all found themselves facing the lens. Photography has exalted suffering, celebrated the vain. Quiet moments, reflective spirits, the hesitant step, the furtive glance have rarely made headlines. Perceived as being unworthy of the shutter.?

The Schedule

• Events

  Draft Schedule?for the?Chobi Mela VII International Fesitval of Photography?as of?19 December 2012.
  Please note that the schedule is still subject to change and needs to be confirmed.

  Chobi Mela VII Programme

  25 January 2013, Friday
  04.00 pm	Opening ceremony
  	Venue to be announced shortly
  26 January 2013, Saturday
  03.00 pm	Pablo Bartholomew, India
  	Artist?s Talk at the Drik Gallery
  06.00 pm	Slideshow: Latin American Photography
  	Curator: Patricia Mendoza, Mexico
  07.00 pm	Graciela Iturbide, Mexico
  	Artist?s Talk
  27 January 2013, Sunday
  11.00 am	Christopher Pinney, UK
  	Discussion: Archiving project in India
  06.00 pm	Slideshow: Russian Photography
  	Curator: Liza Faktor, Russia
  07.00 pm	TBD
  	Artist?s Talk
  28 January 2013, Monday
  11.00 am	Photo Circle, Nepal
  	Discussion and book launching: Nepal Memory Project
  06.00 pm	Slideshow: Bangladeshi Photography
  	Curator: Munem Wasif, Bangladesh
  07.00 pm	Jodi Bieber, USA
  	Artist?s Talk
  29 January 2013, Tuesday
  11.00 am	Shahidul Alam
  	Panel Discussion/Case Study: Transformation on the photographic Scene
  06.00 pm	Slideshow: African Photography
  	Curator:?Nii Obodai, Ghana and Bisi Silva, Nigeri
  07.00 pm	Morten Krogvold, Norway
  	Artist?s Talk
  30 January 2013, Wednesday
  11.00 am	Cultures on the Edge, Chris Rainier and Chris Riley, USA
  	Book launching/Technology and future of photography
  06.00 pm	Slideshow: South-East Asian Photography
  	Curator: Francoise Callier, France
  07.00 pm	Nasir Ali Mamun, Bangladesh
  	Artist?s Talk
  31 January 2013, Thursday
  11.00 am	Robert Pledge, USA
  	Panel Discussion/Chinese Photography
  06.00 pm	Slideshow: Middle-Eastern Photography
  	Curator: Hester Keijser, Netherlands
  07.00 pm	TBD
  	Artist?s Talk
  01February 2013, Friday
  11.00 am	Book launching: Bangladeshi photography
  06.00 pm	TBD
  	Slideshow
  07.00 pm	TBD
  	Artist?s Talk