Chobi Mela
International Festival of Photography
Since its inception in 2000, Chobi Mela International Festival of Photography has been the single biggest photography event in Asia and the first of a regular biannual, one that has become a highlight of the Asian calendar. Chobi Mela is organised in Dhaka, Bangladesh by Drik Picture Library Ltd. and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute. Its eleventh edition was held in January 2026 and celebrated its 25-year-anniversary.
Chobi Mela XI (2026) featured 58+ artists from 18 countries, 9 exhibitions in 5 venues, 20+ artist talks, panel discussions, lectures and film screenings, 6 workshops, and school programs. Over 70,000 local and international visitors exerienced the festival in two weeks. Theme for Chobi Mela XI was ‘Re’. The edition 're-imagined' the euphony of 'Re'. More than half a year after Bangladesh rose up in people’s revolt, we’ve realised a transformative possibility that resonates with the phonetic sound of ‘Re’. ‘Re’ symbolised collective imagination and the revival of dormant hopes. We envisioned ‘rebuilding’ when disruptions signal new beginnings. We also imagined ‘regeneration’ of a primordial future world, environmental healing, and rejuvenation.
Organised by Drik Picture Library Ltd. and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Chobi Mela was conceived in a nation far removed from the established capital of photography. Previously, Bangladeshi photographers were not featured in the classical books on the medium. Images of Bangladesh seen worldwide were images produced largely by white western photographers. There had been no festival of photography in Asia. There were many core reasons that inspired an event like Chobi Mela: the ignorance about non-western photographic practice; the non-recognition of photography as a valid profession and an art form; the limited options that Bangladeshi and regional photographers had to seeing photography. But there was another significant, localised goal as well. In a nation where the majority of people cannot read or write, photography provided one of the few means through which the average person could be reached.
Chobi Mela has become a global platform for upcoming photographers from regions such as Latin America, Africa and Asia. e setup of Chobi Mela crosses boundaries in its approach towards the art of photography by engaging curators, archivists, historians, lawyers and photography teachers in workshops and debates.
The most important impact of Chobi Mela is an awareness of the tremendous gains of photography in the south, particularly in South Asia. Whereas photography has become passé in the west, in the majority world it's a lived experience. The festival and what it stands for has gained wide international coverage, with the New York Times referring to it as the “only truly international” and “also perhaps the world’s most demographically inclusive” festival. The festival brings together print and digital presentations that challenge the traditional perceptions of art reaching out to the public through gallery, open-air/unconventional locations and mobile touring exhibitions.
To know more, see https://chobimela.org/
