Old Dhaka is a unique place, a kaleidoscope of history, sound, culture and gastronomic exuberance and, now, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) through Alliance Francaise, British Council and Goethe Institute and BUET, is launching a project 'Learning from Puran Dhaka' aimed at protecting, preserving and cherishing the cultural heritage, architecture, river and creed of Old Dhaka.
In this regard, a press conference unveiled the project in the city on 9 May on occasion of Europe Day.
Focusing on how the River Buriganga shaped livelihood and zeitgeist of Old Dhaka, this project will involve teachers, architects, researchers from Bangladesh, France and India.
To encourage the residents of Old Dhaka about the significance of the project, a series of visually stimulating cultural events will be organised in the future from colourful rallies to processions by French street performers using stilts known commonly as Les Grande Personnes.
Speakers at the conference said that findings from the project will be released in a book form while a boat encapsulating the rich and vibrant culture of Old Dhaka will be constructed that will go visit all the river ports surrounding the city.
'There is no alternative to development and congested parts of the city need to be restructured, however, any revamping must be carried out keeping the historical architecture intact,' opined the speakers present.
There was also a call to safeguard the sumptuous gastronomic culture of Old Dhaka along with its unique language, which is an amalgamation between Bangla and Urdu.
Present at the event among others were EU ambassador Charles Whiteley, director of Alliance Francaise, Francoise Grosejean, director British Council, Tom Miscioscia, architect Kamalika Bose, artist Ashfika Rahman and Professor Shayer Ghafur, head of the department of architecture at BUET.
