What is culture of "Deyal Likhon" ?

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What is Deyal Likhon?

Deyal Likhon, or wall paintings/murals, have often been used in Bangladesh as a way for people to visually express their ideas and ideologies using slogans and sociopolitical caricatures. Like Deyal Likhon, rickshaw painting, which was registered as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2023, is also a medium to convey caricatures, slogans, advertisements, and so on. However, while rickshaw painting is done by specific craftsmen, Deyal Likhonare anonymous productions of popular culture. They are painted on the walls of public buildings or along the streets, but due to the hot and humid climate in Bangladesh, they disappear spontaneously after some months, making them inherently temporary.

In contemporary art, graffiti is also often used to express the assertions and interests of young people, and graffiti was painted during the July Movement. Immediately after Sheikh Hasina resigned on August 5, however, university and college students who initiated the movement began to clean up the town, removing damaged items and trash that were left behind during the protest movement. As part of the cleanup, they also erased protest graffiti, replacing it with various Deyal Likhon instead. This exhibition contains some photographs of graffiti, but most of the photos are of Deyal Likhon. Most of the photographs were taken of Deyal Likhon near universities or collegesin Dhaka, and a few were taken of Deyal Likhon near the train station in the city center of the northern district of Jamalpur.