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Jamalpur

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Jamalpur is a central northern district 140 km north of Dhaka. It shares an international border with India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya. The district is surrounded by Kurigram and Sherpur districts in the North, Tangail district in the South, Mymensingh and Sherpur districts in the East, and the Jamuna River, Bogra, Sirajganj, and Gaibandha districts in the West. The main town is situated on the banks of the Brahmaputra River. The district has seven upazilas (divisions). As these geographical features indicate, Jamalpur is multifaceted, with unique characteristics in each division.

Most of the murals in this exhibition were photographed in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Some were also documented in Jamalpur due to the personal connection of Dr. Minamide, the project operator, who has been conducting anthropological research in a village in Jamalpur since 2000. During her 2024 stay in Bangladesh, she revisited her research site in Jamalpur for one week and photographed Deyal Likhon at the train station and in Jamalpur town.

Dr. Minamidenoted one clear difference between the Deyal Likhon in Dhaka and those in Jamalpur. Despite the selection of Dr. Yunusas their leader (who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering anti-poverty microcredit program), poverty is not a centraltopic for urban youth in Dhaka.Economic disparities have widened in conjunction with economic growth, and that phenomenon undoubtedly contributed to citizen dissatisfaction with the previous regime; however, it may have been a less significant factor for Gen Z urban elite. While the theme of poverty does not feature prominently in the Dhaka Deyal Likhon, among those in Jamalpur district, there are calls for the prohibition of child labor.