Guideline for Interested Participants

Chobi Mela, the Festival of Photography, is being organised mainly by Drik Picture Library Ltd. and Pathshala - South Asian Institute of Photography. The Festival is expected to be a regular event to be held in Dhaka preferably during December- January in coming years. It will showcase, amongst other things, the present state of the art in the region. Chobi Mela 2000 is expected to be the first of this regular event. At the end of each festival, the theme and the expected date of the inauguration for the next festival will be announced through the Web Site.

Apart from the group exhibitions where work from a number of countries will be included, collective works from other countries are also welcome, some of which can especially be commissioned for the festival. Photographers, whether they be fine artists, documentary photographers, or from any other field of photography can participate individually or in groups. Non-photographic work that has a direct relevance to the theme of the festival may also be acceptable. The festival will feature:

Those wishing to participate should send an outline of the work by completely filling in the registration form available at this Web Site. Representative samples of work should also be forwarded to Drik as directed. The applications should reach 4 months prior to the festival. The deadline for Chobi Mela 2000 was 31 August 2000. Four weeks after the deadline, the confirmation of selections will be made and a tentative event calendar will be produced. A limited number of bursaries are available, sponsorship will only be granted for work of exceptional quality. Sponsorship requests need to reach the secretariat three months prior to the deadline.

Chobi Mela will be the single biggest media event in Asia and one of the highlights of the Asian calendar offering attractive advertising packages for potential sponsors. Coupled with the media involvement and the world-wide education campaigns, through broadcast media and the Net, this represents an excellent opportunity to create a public profile.

The festival offers the scope for participation in different areas namely:

Sponsorship for festival / Web Site / individual events	Various events around photography
Promotion of venues	Visits/Tours
Organising support	Voluntary services
Media exposure	.

While the individual organisers are taking the full responsibility for the specific events they are involved in, the festival committee will be responsible for the overall publicity of the festival, including the production and distribution of posters, brochures, catalogues, banners and invitations etc., as well as all arrangements for the opening ceremony.

All participating exhibitions, galleries and events will be included in the festival calendar, brochure. Sponsors taking full responsibility of any festival event will also be credited in all general festival publicity outlets, press kits as well as on the Web Site. However, other major organisers and sponsors will be prominently featured in all publicity material relating to the festival.

We invite the diplomatic missions in Bangladesh to sponsor events from their respective countries. However, we are not looking for state propaganda or tourism exhibits. The sponsorship is expected to cover the entire costs involved in such a cross-country exchange programme. We would also hope that the missions would help with customs clearance of exhibitions and visas of the visitors. Missions that have access to exhibition spaces and lecture-halls could make such spaces available for the festival in Dhaka and outside Dhaka.

The theme for the first year is to look at differences, and discover the current state of photography in the region while placing present day photographic practice in a broader international context. The nature of the work in Chobi Mela 2000 will range from fine art photography, to conceptual practices, through to photojournalism, industrial photography and digital imaging. Slides (duplicate) sent by interested photographers may be reviewed for possible shows and lecture-sessions. The organising committee of Chobi Mela 2000 comprises Drik Picture Library Ltd., Pathshala- South Asian Institute of Photography, The Royal Netherlands Embassy, The High Commission of India, The British Council, Goethe Institut and Alliance Française.

A unique exhibition "The War We Forgot", will pool the images on the war of liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. Photographers from different countries are invited to join this historic collaboration. The collection of '71 images is meant for our national archives and will be continually enriched through Chobi Mela.

For more information on Chobi Mela 2000, please contact:

S. M. Mayeen Ahmed
Co-ordinator, Gallery & Exhibitions, DRIK and
Co-ordinator, Chobi Mela 2000

Secretariat:
Pathshala-South Asian Institute of Photography
16 Sukrabad, Panthapath, Dhaka 1209, BANGLADESH
Tel: (88 02) 9120125, 8123412, 8112954 (Drik), 9129847 (Pathshala)
Fax: (88 02) 9115044; E-mail: office@drik.net