Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Bangla Academy

Bangladesh National Museum

Bangladesh Folk Arts and Crafts Foundation, Sonargaon

Copyright Office

Cox's Bazar Cultural Centre

Department of Public Libraries                               

Directorate of Archives & Libraries                                                

Department of Archaeology

National Book Centre

Nazrul Institute

Tribal Cultural Institute, Rangamati

Tribal Cultural Institute, Bandarban

Tribal Cultural Academy, Birisiri

It is the national academy of fine and performing arts was established through an act of Parliament in 1974 as a statutory organization under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. But subsequently the Act of 1974 of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy was amended through a new act of Parliament in 1989. And upon coming into operation of this act the administration of the Academy had been running by it. The academy is headed by a Director General.

The overall direction for the functioning of the academy is provided by an Executive Council (Shilpakala Academy Parishad) headed by the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The Director General of the academy is responsible for its administration. He is also responsible for the implementation of decisions taken by the council. He is assisted in his work by an executive committee which is elected by the Council.

 The duties and responsibilities of the academy are promotion of the arts and national culture and creation of necessary facilities for their development keeping consistency with the hopes and aspiration of the nation. Also organizing workshops, seminars, discussion meetings, short-term specialized trainings, providing scholarships, financial grants for talented artists and many other activities for the promotion of art and culture, organizing competitions in the various fine and performing arts and awarding prizes to the wining artists, encouraging the arts through film shows, either by importing educational films or by locally commissioning such films on the various branches of the arts.

The Academy consists of the following departments, each headed by a Director, excepting administration, which is headed by the Secretary of the Academy.

1. Department of Fine Arts

2. Department of Dramatics

3. Department of Music and Dances

4. Department of Research and Publication

5. Department of Training

6. Department of Programme Production

7. Department of Administration and Finance

Please visit the Official Web Site of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy to know more about Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Bangla Academy stands as the National Conscience and acts as the principal forum of cultivation of Bangla literature. It is also the leading publishing house of research works in the country.

Please visit the Official Web Site of Bangla Academy for more information about Bangla Academy.

Bangladesh National Museum is the largest museum of the country. It was established to conserve the fragment of the past and present culture and bear the witness to cultural change and interprets them. It also responds to the quest for cultural identity and roots. It was inaugurated on November 17, 1983 incorporating all the resources of old Dhaka Museum, which was founded in 1913.

This is the apex of museum organizations of the country and it devotes primarily to the preservation and conservation of the tangible heritage of the country and displays objects of history and cultural heritage.

Please visit Official Web Site of Bangladesh National Museum for more information about the National Museum.

Travelers like Ibne Batuta, Ma Huan, Fa Heyan and Ralf Fitch visited Sonargaon. Ralf Fitch said that sufficient handloom cloths were exported from Sonargaon to different countries of the world. In that time Muslin was famous for its finest quality. Main importing countries of Muslin were India, Sinhal, Pegu, Malakha, Sumatra etc. Once upon a time, there was sea route from Sonargaon to Java Island. Sonargaon was not only administrative capital, but also developed in culture, art and science. The ancient Tomb, Mazar, Mosque and residential area bear its testimony.

Zainul Abedin, the great artist of Bangladesh selected Sonargaon to establish Folk Arts and Crafts Museum. As a result, the Government of Bangladesh established the Bangladesh Folk Arts and Crafts Foundation on March 1975. The foundation is run by the direction of the board of trusty. Head of the institution is Director. There are two museums with 13 galleries in this foundation. One is Folk Art and Crafts museum and the other is Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin museum. Every year the Foundation arranges month-long folk fair and folk festival. Thousands of people enjoy the festival. With different motifs and colours, Jamdani and Nakshi Kantha are projected here. These are creations of common people. These are the great creations of our civilization and aspirations of mankind.

The main objectives of the Foundation are to collect, preserve, display, carry out researches and revitalize traditional folk arts and crafts of Bangladesh.

Sonargaon is just 25 km. away from Dhaka. After crossing Kanchpur Bridge ask anyone to know the location of the Sonargaon Museum. A half-kilometer narrow winding road will take you to the folk art museum.

The Copyright Office governs Copyright and Related Right activities for books, music and other creative works in Bangladesh. 

It is a 'Quasi Judicial Body' organization of the Government of Bangladesh. It was established under the related revised section of 1974, 1978 & 2000 of the Copyright Ordinance 1962. It is situated at the National Library building (2^nd Floor), 32, S. M. Morshed Sarani, Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.

Copyright law is a section of 'Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)' law. Creative works like books, photographs, cinema, artistries, audio-video cassettes/records, broadcasting programs, computer Programs etc is the backbone of that creator which is recognized by nationwide and worldwide. 

The main duty of the Copyright Office is to develop education and culture by controlling and directing the ownership of creative works. For that reason, implementation of copyright laws, publication of foreign books in the country, Re-publicity of cinema and video films, Re-exhibiting, Usage and handover of computer programs etc is related to the copyright law.

Making solution of copyright related lawsuit and complaint is one of the main objectives of this office’s works. The main duties of the Copyright Office are given below –

i.          Examining the applications of literacy, art, music, cinema, audio-video cassette,   computer software, cable TV network etc that is submitted for the registration of copyright under the copyright law.

ii.          Recording information of the applications in the register.  

iii.         Distributing the copyright form. 

iv.         Indexing and preserving the registered works.

v.         Holding hearing of lawsuit of copyright works to make a solution.

vi.        Giving decision about that.

vii.        Issuing copyright certificate.

Cox's Bazar Cultural Centre is doing a tremendous job for the cultural promotion of the periphery areas and ethnic minorities of Bangladesh.

The Central Public Library was opened to the public on March 22, 1968 with a stock of 10040 books. The Library was intended to be the head of the public Library system in the province of East Bengal ( East Pakistan) of the then Pakistan. The Department of the Public Libraries was established with Bangladesh Central Public Library as its headquarter in 1984

The overall superintendence, development and management of Public Libraries in the country are the main functions of this organization. It has been playing an important role of country's socio-economic development by aiding people of their formal and informal learning.

At present, the Library has 1,19,75 books in its collection, including a good collection of old and rare books and manuscripts of immense historical value for research and reference. Bengali and English are the main languages covered. Besides there are books on other oriental languages such as undue, Hindi, Persian etc. The BCPL subscribes almost all the national newspapers and periodicals and a select number of foreign journals. Anglo-American cataloguing code and the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system with minor modification to suit the local need are followed for organizing library materials.

Library Hours: The library was remained open for the users from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. on all days except Fridays and Govt. holidays. But after the declaration of "Library and Quality Education year 2003" by the Honorable Prime Minister, the authority started 24 hours reader service from the last July 26, 2003 except holidays. The district and branch libraries remain open from 11.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on all days except Fridays and Govt. holidays.

It is consisted of two national institutions, one is the National Archives and the other is the National Library. All Non-Official and Official records of historical value are preserved in the National Archives. National Library is the legal depository of all new books and other printed materials published in the country. ISBN Number is issued from here.

For more details please visit the Official Web Site of Directorate of Archives & Libraries

It is one of the most ancient government departments of Bangladesh. It preserves the National Cultural heritage and protects and controls the ancient monuments and regulates antiquities as per Antiquities Act of 1964 (amended, 1976). Maintenance, conservation and repair of "Protected" sites and monuments all over the country as per Archaeological Works Code are its main responsibilities. Planning and execution of exploration and excavation of ancient sites as per pre-planned programme are its major functions. Decipherment and study of ancient epigraphic records including stone inscriptions, copper plates, coins and manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian are entrusted with the experts of this Department. It publishes books, brochures, guide books, view cards and other publicity materials for the general public introducing our cultural heritage with a view to provide most reliable information to national and international scholars devoted to the study and reconstruction of our history. The department collects and preserves ethnological objects of the tribal peoples and preserves them in the ethnological museum to facilitate study and ethnological research. It also maintains a specialized library. It coordinates the UNESCO mission activities for the restoration and preservation of our World Heritage Sites of the country.

At present there are 372 sites and monuments have been declared protected on priority basis under the provisions of the Antiquities Act. Two sites have been declared as World Cultural Heritage Sites. These are Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat and Paharpur Buddhist Vihara, Naogaon.

For more details please visit the Official Web Site of the Department of Archaeology

The National Book Centre is an autonomous organization. Its head office situated at 5/C BangaBandhu Avenue, Dhaka-1000 which is centrally located of the Dhaka city.

The role of National Book Centre (NBC) is to execute objectives of UNESCO to launch world wide programme of book development with a view to making a systematic and sound promotion of books within the country. The aims and objects of NBC are to develop the book industry of the country in proper and effective manners and stimulate the activities of the government and private sectors in book industry.

A 17 members Governing Body headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Cultural Affairs is working for its smooth functioning.

Kazi Nazrul Islam is the National Poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul Institute was established in February 1985 by the Government of Bangladesh with a view to keeping alive his memory, studying his life, literature, music as well as conducting researches on his overall contribution to Bangladeshi life and society. The Institute is housed in the building, popularly known as Kabi Bhaban situated at Road No. 28 (Old), House No. 330-B, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka, Bangladesh, where the poet spent a considerable period of the last phase of his life.

Some important objectives and functions are promoting the study of the works of the poet, collecting his songs and other works from various sources at home and abroad and compiling, preserving and publishing the same, making necessary arrangements for research on, and publication of the literature of the poet, and publicity thereof, organizing conferences, lectures, debates and seminars on matters relating to his music, literature and other areas etc.

As per existing organogram of Nazrul Institute, all functions of the Institute are discharged through the following departments under direct supervision of the Executive Director:

1. Administration and Finance

2. Research and Publication

3. Culture, Exhibition and Sales

Please visit the Official Web Site of Nazrul Institute for more information about Nazrul Institute.

This institute was established in 1978 under the Ministry of Education (Culture and Sports) in order to promote, preserve and develop tribal cultures of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region and to bring such activities in the mainstream of the national culture of Bangladesh. Since then the Institute had been run as a project of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board till it was taken over by the Ministry of Sports and Culture and brought under its administrative control in July 1981. At present it is under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The institute has its own office building, modern auditorium and a unique Tribal Museum cum Library building in its own land.

The broad functions of the institute are carrying out researches about the ways of life of the Tribal peoples and their customs and practices and highlighting the common elements that exists between the tribal peoples and the people of other parts of the country, so that, they could be brought in the mainstream of our National and Cultural life. Also collecting information and data regarding the tribal ways of life, their languages, literature, customs, beliefs, rites and rituals, organizing Tribal language course for the officers and staff of the Government and autonomous bodies posted in the tribal areas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. And many other activities like publication of books, journals, periodicals, organizing seminars, cultural festivals, literary and music competitions, art exhibitions etc.

Like the Rangamati Tribal Cultural Institute, it is also working to promote, preserve and develop tribal cultures of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region specifically of the Bandarban district area.

Some of the main functions of the Institute are collecting rare and valuable books and journals regarding tribal people and culture for the Library of the Institute, organizing cultural shows, drama etc on national days and in important social and public occasions and also at the time of VIP visit, organizing cultural exchange program in the country, recording and preservation of traditional tribal songs and ballads, collecting specimens of tribal arts and crafts, colorful dresses, traditional ornaments, musical instruments, coins, paintings and many more.

The institute holds a status of autonomy character under the control of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. It has an executive Body/Council constituted by the Government itself. This body is the supreme authority. As the chief Executive of the institution, the Director controls and administers the institute. There are 37 nos. of staffs in the Academy are classified into two categories.

It is located at Birisiri under the upozilla Durgapur in the district of Netrokona, a district at northeastern zone of Bangladesh. It is about 40 km. away from the district headquarters and about 180 km. far from the capital city Dhaka.

 The main objectives of this Academy are preservation, promotion and development of tribal culture of the greater Mymensingh district (Mymensingh, Tangail, Netrokona, Jamalpur, Sherpur) and bring those to the mainstream of the national culture.