Additional Secretary Abul Foyez takes on Shilpakala Academy DG role

He urges staff to treat their work as a mission and vision rather than just employment

Abul Foyez Md Alauddin Khan, additional secretary (administration) at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, has been given additional charge as director general (DG) of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

The appointment was made through an official order on Sunday.

The post had remained unsettled since Aug 5 last year when Liaquat Ali Lucky stepped down as DG following the fall of the Awami League government during the July Uprising.

On Sept 9, Syed Jamil Ahmed, theatre director and researcher was appointed for two years as DG, while the academy council was also reconstituted.

Jamil resigned from the position on Feb 28 this year. On Mar 4, Mohammad Wares Hossain was given charge as acting director general.

Nearly six months later, Wares was replaced, with the additional responsibility now handed to Foyez.

On Tuesday, his first workday in the role, the new DG held a views exchange meeting with officials and employees of Shilpakala Academy.

Foyez said: “As Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is a national institution, it plays an important role in cultural practice across the country. Culture means the sense of aesthetics in people, the welfare that stands against evil, the peace that stands against unrest, which removes divisions among people and builds harmony.

“For all these reasons, cultural practice is deeply needed. When an artist presents his performance through artistry, it moves people, it creates a place that brings them closer to the heart.”

He urged the academy’s staff not to see their work merely as a job but to take it as a “mission and vision”.

“By uniting mission with vision, if you can keep the people of Bangladesh away from decadence, inspire them in cultural practice and sustain this stream, it will be very good,” Foyez said.