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Bangladeshis use art and performance to demand the release of photographer

Summary

After photographer Shahidul Alam was jailed under Section 57 of Bangladesh’s ICT Act in August 2018, photographers, activists, and Nobel laureates combined street art, gallery exhibitions, social-media campaigns, and a national student strike to win his release after 107 days in custody. [source: nv-database]

Tactics used

Tactics used

  • ‘[street-art
  • exhibitions
  • social-media-campaign
  • human-chain
  • national-strike]‘

Background

Within hours of telling Al Jazeera that student road-safety protests revealed deep discontent with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, 63-year-old photographer Shahidul Alam was dragged from his Dhaka flat by 20 plainclothes officers on 5 August 2018, tortured in custody, and charged under Section 57 of the ICT Act for “spreading propaganda.” [source: nv-database]

What happened

Activist niece Sofie Karim publicized the case on Instagram; journalists, academics, photographers, and filmmakers issued signed statements and joint declarations, Amnesty International gathered over 5,000 petition signatures, and 473 Indian artists and filmmakers posted a Facebook open letter. [source: nv-database]

By 11 August, a Bangladesh rally brought photographers Taslima Akhter Lima and Shirin Haque onto the streets of Dhaka; on 19 August, nine Nobel laureates including Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams, and Muhammad Yunus released a joint statement calling the ICT Act “draconian.” [source: nv-database] Peru’s Alta Tecnologia Andina and Cultural Centre Ricardo Palma opened the exhibition “Shahidul Alam: A Voice from the Shadows” on 24 August; Drik Gallery in Dhaka inaugurated “A Struggle for Democracy” on 4 September; from 8-28 October, UK galleries, museums, and universities displayed a single Alam image as the campaign’s rallying visual. [source: nv-database]

In Shahbagh on 9 September, “Let Democracy Be Free” featured participants wearing paper bags (“We are not supposed to have heads”), a guitarist in a makeshift cage representing BCL attackers, and others holding Alam cutouts in front of their own faces. [source: nv-database] A Bangladesh Chhatra Federation national strike hit 17 September, and on 16 October dozens of Dhaka photographers formed a human chain at Dhaka University, raising their cameras in protest. [source: nv-database] After courts denied bail on 11 September and Amnesty declared Alam a prisoner of conscience, he was released on 20 November after 107 days. [source: nv-database] Broader press-freedom reform remained unaddressed. [source: nv-database]

Key people & organizations

  • Shahidul Alam (photographer; jailed 5 Aug-20 Nov 2018)
  • Sofie Karim (social-media amplifier via Instagram)
  • Taslima Akhter Lima and Shirin Haque (Dhaka-based photographers)
  • Alta Tecnologia Andina (Peru); Cultural Centre Ricardo Palma; Drik Gallery (Dhaka)
  • Transparency International Bangladesh; Reporters Without Borders; Committee to Protect Journalists; Amnesty International; Index on Censorship; ARTICLE 19; Prince Claus Fund; Free Press Unlimited; World Press Photo Foundation; Human Rights Watch; United Nations
  • 473 Indian artists and filmmakers; 9 Nobel laureates (Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams, Muhammad Yunus, Tawakkol Karman, Oscar Arias, José Ramos-Horta, Mairead Maguire, Betty Williams, Sir Richard J. Roberts, Amartya Sen)
  • Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (adversary)

Outcome

Verdict: won. (7.5/10 on the GNVAD scale.)

Shahidul Alam was released on bail after 107 days in custody on 20 November 2018, but broader freedom-of-press goals were not achieved; treatment of journalists became internationally visible. [source: nv-database]

Lessons

  • Artists and cultural figures can drive a human-rights campaign with tactics — exhibitions, performances, social media — that journalists and lawyers cannot.
  • International solidarity from prestigious figures (nine Nobel laureates, 473 Indian artists) amplified pressure even when the domestic opposition was fractured.
  • Paper-bag symbolism (“We are not supposed to have heads”) and single-image exhibitions reach audiences who do not attend rallies; cultural tactics reach the “unmoved middle.”
  • Winning the individual’s release did not move the underlying law; campaigns against specific tools like Section 57 of the ICT Act need follow-through beyond a single high-profile case.

Sources

Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.

Sources & verification

  • nv-database — grounding: primary — license: link-only

Last verified: 2026-07-09