Visiting the exhibit Eyes on Bangladesh was something I was not expecting. Growing up, I’ve learned about a plethora of countries and their cultures through the mediums of education, movies, and museums. However, if I hadn’t been Bengali, I probably wouldn’t have known much about Bangladesh just like others, as it is not a widely prevalent topic. This actually surprises me since there is a large Bengali population in NYC, yet our cultural backgrounds remain unknown to many. For this reason, when I stepped into the exhibit, I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of effort that had been put into this portrayal of Bangladesh.

The selection of photographs in the exhibit were great and made me feel like I was looking at Bangladesh through a different lens. Certain aspects of Bangladesh, like the prevalence of nature and the grand festivals and celebrations, were depicted beautifully through the shots. My personal favorite was the image of a lone man washing his pots and pans surrounded by animals. This really demonstrated the oneness of man and nature as the man shared his kitchen and his daily routines with a flock of crows that were most likely just foraging, and the neighborhood cat. Visiting Bangladesh itself is always extremely refreshing as I get to experience a culture unscathed by western mentality. The fact of the matter is that the world was not only created for the human species to thrive, but also for the other species that inhabit it. As Bangladesh remains a third world country, it will always have that essence of sharing their space with nature and that is one of the things I love about it.