A ceremony honouring the acclaimed singer Runa Laila, originally set for 18 July at Dhaka’s Shilpakala Academy, was postponed because of the country’s flood situation. On Thursday the academy confirmed the special event would now be held on 24 July. The academy said that alongside honouring Runa Laila, the programme would raise a fund for flood-affected people.
In a notice, the academy said the honour was intended to pay deep respect to Runa Laila and to nationally recognise her contribution to music. The honouring ceremony and solo concert will be held at 6:30pm on 24 July at the National Theatre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, under the patronage of the culture ministry, with Runa Laila singing in aid of flood victims. In a music career spanning more than six decades, it will be the first time she performs a solo concert at Shilpakala.
Culture minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury will be chief guest, with state minister for culture Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam and information and broadcasting ministry adviser Zahed Ur Rahman as special guests, and culture ministry secretary Kaniz Mawla presiding; the academy’s director general, poet Sheikh Rezauddin Ahmed (Rezauddin Stalin), will give the welcome address. Under the culture ministry’s patronage, the academy has since last year been honouring eminent artists with solo concerts, a series that began with singer Sabina Yasmin last September, most recently honouring Syed Abdul Hadi in June.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report