Shawdesh desk:

Creative stall ideas have attracted book lovers at the ongoing month-long Amar Ekuskey Book Fair.

Publishing houses have addressed different issues, namely dying art form of rickshaw painting, decline in library use, use of sustainable and reusable building materials, changes in house building materials and others through the decoration of their stalls.

Nobanno Prokashoni has decorated its stall with the theme of rickshaw painting to spread this art idea among the new generation.

‘Rickshaw painting, which was once very popular, has almost disappeared now. The artists who know the art form are also disappearing,’ said Nobanno Prokashoni adviser Aminur Rahman Sultan.

‘The beauty of rickshaw painting still fascinates people. Many visitors are coming to our stall to take pictures every day,’ mentioned Sultan.

Mohammad Monir Hossain painted the stall collaborating with Bached Khan, Solaiman, Noor Ali and others.

Visitor Mizanur Raihan said, ‘The decoration of the stall is quite different.’

Bidyanondo Foundation has addressed decline in library use across the country through its stall.

‘It is our experience that many libraries closed their doors forever due to lack of books, readers and support. We are working to promote libraries across the country,’ said Bidyanondo Foundation communication head Salman Khan.

‘We have decorated our stall with crumbling bookshelves, broken chairs and tables to give the visitors a glimpse into the situation of libraries today,’ added Salman.

He also said that the foundation would donate a book to a library for a book sold from the stall.

The pavilion of the University Press Limited focused on using sustainable and reusable building materials.

Architectural team of Saif Ul Haque Sthapati designed UPL’s pavilion led by architect Saif Ul Haque.

‘Our main focus was on sustainable and reusable building materials,’ said Saif.

The pavilion has been made very open and visitors can see through the pavilion.

Srabon Prokashani publisher Robin Ahsan said that changes in house building materials from past days to modern days had been addressed through its stall decoration.

The stall of Srabon has been designed as a house made of bamboo mat and Thai glass.

Besides, the stalls of Pendulum Publishers, Creative Dhaka, Oitijjhya and others have attracted people.

The book fair organising committee every year selects a stall for the Artist Qayyum Chowdhury Memorial Award for its decoration.

According to Bangla Academy, 79 new titles were published on Sunday raising the total number of books published in the fair to 1,295 so far.

The fair will open at 3:00pm on Monday.