Australia and Bangladesh launch climate exhibition under bilateral Arts and Cultural MoU

The Hon’ble Minister for Cultural Affairs Nitai Roy Chowdhury MP and Australian High Commissioner HE Susan Ryle launched the Climate Change in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean Art Exhibition at Dhaka University, reports a press release.

The exhibition is underpinned by the Australia-Bangladesh Arts and Cultural Memorandum of Understanding, signed in October 2024 in Dhaka, by Australia’s Home Affairs and Arts Minister, the Honourable Tony Burke MP.

The exhibition, developed by the Australian Government and the National Museum of Australia, celebrates the 35th Anniversary of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (commonly known as the Madrid Protocol).

The exhibition underscores the importance of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty that established that Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only with core principles of non-militarisation, international cooperation, and freedom of scientific investigation. 

Open to any member of the United Nations there are currently 56 signatories.

While Bangladesh has yet to sign on, it has participated in Antarctica related multilateral discussions and international expeditions for climate study to the region.

Bangladesh is the first country outside Australia to host the exhibition, with the exhibition being displayed in collaboration with Dhaka University and Chittagong University.

It has brought together Australia and Bangladesh’s respective academic and scientific communities to share insights on the far-reaching importance of climate research in Antarctica.

It demonstrates how research in Antarctica allows the world to gauge the speed, severity and impacts of climate change.

The exhibition is open to the public until 28 June at Dhaka University’s Oceanography Department.