Welcome Remarks by Ambassador Mr. Ghanshyam Bhandari
in the Inauguration Ceremony of
Nepal-Bangladesh Art and Culture Festival
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
14 March 2023
Hon. Minister for Education Dr. Dipu Moni, MP,
Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Mr. Liaqat Ali Lucky,
President of Bangladesh-Nepal Friendship Society Mr. Moshiur Ahmad
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Friends from Media, and
Ladies and Gentlemen
Namaste, As-salamu Alaykum, Shuvo Sandhya and Good Evening!
At the outset, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all to the Nepal-Bangladesh Art and Culture Festival 2023.
On behalf of the Embassy, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Bangladesh-Nepal Friendship Society for their tireless efforts in making this event a reality.
I express my deepest gratitude to Her Excellency Dr. Dipu Moni, Honourable Minister for Education, for accepting our invitation to attend the inauguration session of this Festival as the Chief Guest. We are truly honoured by her presence, which has elevated the stature of the event.
I am equally grateful for the unwavering support we have received from Director General Mr. Liaqat Ali, Secretary Mr. Salahuddin Ahmed, and their team from Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Their support has been valuable to us in our efforts to promote art and cultural ties between our two countries.
Excellencies, and
Distinguished Guests
Art and culture are a doorway to knowledge, and the focal point and the soul of every civilization.
They are the fruits of human mind, the product of our traditions, and the expression of our yearnings.
They transcend time and space. As embodiments of our common quest for truth and knowledge, they constitute higher noble causes of peace, co-existence, and harmony that bind human beings together.
These noble values are very much important today as the antithesis to the silo and divisive mindset that is increasingly finding space in the present world.
[Pause]
This Festival is one of the events held this year to celebrate the 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Nepal and Bangladesh.
Over the last five decades, the friendly relations between our two countries have flourished in diverse areas.
Our two countries are the treasure lands of historical, religious, artistic, cultural, and archeological sites. They provide us with values and identities.
Nepal and Bangladesh have many things in common- food, art, culture, language, lifestyle, and many more.
These close linkages as well as strong people-to-people contacts serve as a solid foundation of our multifaceted relationship.
A testament to the historical exchanges between our civilizations was the finding of the palm-leaf manuscript of the Charyapada in the Royal Court of Nepal in the early 20th Century by the renowned Bengali scholar Haraprasad Shastri.
This invaluable artefact is believed to be one of the ancestors of the modern Bangla language.
The linguistic connections between our countries are evident in the Sanksrit language and literature, the root of both Nepali and Bangla languages.
The names of months in Nepali and Bangla calendars have their origins in the same Bikram Sambat, also known as Vikrami Calendar.
These instances are merely a glimpse how close and connected we are through art, language, and culture.
In fact, the formal legal foundation of cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges started with the signing of the Cultural Agreement back in 1978. To further consolidate this, Nepal and Bangladesh signed an agreement on Cultural Exchange Programme during the visit of President of Nepal Rt. Hon. Bidya Devi Bhandari to Bangladesh in March 2021.
Dear Friends,
This Festival features a five-day-long painting and photography exhibition of rich artistic traditions from our two countries.
We are also organizing a cultural programme tomorrow evening, which will bring together dances, songs, and music from both Nepal and Bangladesh.
We have among us twenty artists and photographers from Nepal, while about 50 Bangladeshi artists, painters, and photographers have kindly consented to contribute to the event.
We are grateful to all the artists for the contributions.
Once again, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Hon. Education Minister, esteemed guests, and all of you, for your presence today.
I hope that you will relish the artistic and cultural displays this Festival has to offer, and more importantly, appreciate each other’s works and historical, artistic, and cultural traditions.
I am confident that this Festival will be an occasion to;
- To celebrate the valued artworks and performances of our artists,
- To present the picture of Nepal-Bangladesh friendship, and
- To further cement the bilateral bonds between our countries.
Long live Nepal-Bangladesh Friendship!
Nepal-Bangladesh samparka chiranjivi hok !
I thank you for your attention.
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