Lubna Marium (C) with the trustees of Shadhona at the programme. Photo: Ridwan Adid Rupon

Shadhona, a centre for promotion of South Asian performing arts, felicitated eminent scholar-researcher and dance exponent Lubna Marium, on her receiving the first Dr. Bhupen Hazaraika International Solidarity Award from Asam Sahitya Sabha. At a programme on Saturday evening at Radius Centre in Gulshan, Dhaka, the board of trustees of Shadhona felicitated Marium for her outstanding achievement.

At the event, the citation for the award was read out, followed by presentations on the Asam Sahitya Sabha, Bhupen Hazarika and Lubna Marium's work. A presentation on Shadhona revealed its multi-dimensional activities in the cultural arena, its diverse projects, future ventures, and contribution to the enrichment of local culture as well as the sub-continental cultural exchange.

In the key presentation, titled “Agency and Art”, Lubna Marium discussed the role of art in resolving the conflict between the normative structures of society, and independent human agency. According to Marium, the purpose of art is to inspire a “reflexivity” of consciousness, which helps to break free of the constraints of social structure. She also said the “counter-hegemonic” space of art inspires human agency to embrace pluralistic cultural practices within indigenous performing arts of Bangladesh.

Marium, in her presentation, also discussed various forms of sub-continental dance, and the mythopoetic nature of art in the sub-continent. She showed how ritualistic performances cross the boundaries of religion. According to the researcher, our culture is vibrant with the mixture folk performance arts, Vedic art, the blend of Tantra and Sufism, ritualistic performances, and the tradition of bauls.

Lubna Marium -- aesthete, scholar, dance pioneer and teacher -- is a noted figure in the contemporary South Asian cultural arena. She has dedicated a lifetime to the promotion of culture, especially dance and other performing arts of the sub-continent. She is the general secretary and artistic director of Shadhona.

Born in a progressive Bengali family, Marium, in her childhood, developed a passion for dance. Though she at first took up conventional career path and started studying architecture, she could not stay away from dance. She travelled to South India to learn dance, primarily Bharatanatyam. Subsequently she returned to Dhaka. Finding difficulties in taking up dance as a career and limitations of classical dance lessons, she came forward to do something for the young people so that they could have classical dance lessons without having to go abroad. Thus Shadhona was born and since then it has been promoting performance arts.

Marium received the first Biswaratna Bhupen Hazarika International Solidarity Award from the Asam Sahitya Sabha on March 28, 2013 in Guwahati, Assam, from Tarun Gogoi, the Chief Minister of Assam. In her award acceptance speech, Marium said, “the need of the day, therefore, is cultural intervention to bring about a transformation of social consciousness that aims to bring the alienated individual consciousness back to the path of solidarity.”