Bangladesh reconstitutes 19-member Shilpakala Academy council under 2026 amendment act

The Government has reconstituted the 19-member council of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, keeping the cultural minister in the chair and naming a joint secretary as member-secretary alongside ten artists, academics and media figures. The order was made under section 5(1) of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (Amendment) Act, 2026 and published in the Bangladesh Gazette of 12 November 2026 (No. 46). It formally cancels the council notified on 2 November 2025.

The notification, numbered 43.00.0000.116.06.007.94(Ask).365, was issued by the Shilpakala Branch of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs by order of the President and takes effect immediately in the public interest. It replaces the council constituted by notification No. 43.00.0000.116.06.007.94(Ask).354 dated 2 November 2025, which is annulled outright.

The academy continues to be governed by the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Act, 1989, under which the council must meet at least once every three months; the 2026 amendment act sets the composition now being applied and the terms of the nominated members.

Who sits on the council

The order fixes the leadership and the ex-officio seats as follows:

• Chairperson: the Minister or State Minister for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
• Vice-chairperson: the Senior Secretary or Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
• Member-secretary: the Joint Secretary (Shilpakala) of the same ministry.
• Members: the Senior Secretary or Secretary of the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance, of the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education, and of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, each or a representative not below the rank of Joint Secretary.
• Members: the Director General of Bangla Academy, Dhaka, the Director General of the Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, and the Director General of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka.

The artists and professionals named

Ten nominated members fill the remaining seats:

• Sujit Mostafa, eminent music artist.
• Dr. Md. Azharul Islam Sekh (Chanchol), Professor and Dean of the Institute of Fine Arts (Charukala), University of Dhaka.
• Ashraf Uddin Ahmed (Ujjal), eminent theatre personality.
• Hossain Khan Helal (Helal Khan), eminent film personality.
• A. K. M. Mohsin, eminent photography personality.
• Farhana Chowdhury Baby, eminent dance artist.
• Dr. Nashid Kamal, eminent cultural personality in research, publication and new media.
• Chashi Ashrafunnesa (Anin), eminent personality in theatre practice, acting, recitation and stagecraft.
• Sangma Pru Julee, cultural personality of a small ethnic community.
• Shajrul Kabir Khan, advisory editor of the daily Regulus.

Three-year terms and a cancelled 2025 order

Under section 5(2) of the 2026 amendment act, nominated members hold office for three years from the date of the notification. A nominated member may resign at any time by a letter signed by him and addressed to the chairperson, and the Government may annul the nomination of any nominated member at any time.

The order also states that the constituted council retains the power of reconstitution or expansion as preserved by government rules. Meetings must be held at least once every three months under section 12(1) of the 1989 Act, with the date, time and place fixed by the chairperson under section 5(1) of the 2026 amendment act.

The single explicit repeal is the November 2025 notification, meaning the membership announced a year ago no longer stands. No transition clause, deadline or reporting obligation is attached to the new council beyond the statutory meeting cycle.

For the cultural sector, the practical effect is a settled roster for a body that meets quarterly and whose term runs to late 2029, replacing a composition that had stood for barely a year. The mix is deliberately institutional: treasury, education and information secretaries sit ex officio, while the ten nominated seats go to practising artists, a dean, a photographer and a newspaper editor, giving the academy a council drawn from both the bureaucracy that funds culture and the practitioners who deliver it.

Source: Bangladesh Gazette, No. 46, 12 November 2026, Part I, pp. 1145–1146 (official reference: 43.00.0000.116.06.007.94(Ask).365).