Dhaka's first Meme Fest offers more than just memes

"Earki", a satire and parody online page hosted a day-long 'Meme Fest' on 19 December at Aloki, which was a first-of-its-kind event in Dhaka.

Although the name is self-explanatory, Earki's meme fest did have quite a lot to offer for the visitors. The show was graced by cartoonists Ahsan Habib and Morshed Mishu alongside other prominent faces in Bangladeshi pop culture, and the event ended with a panel discussion on memes.

Photo: Nayem Ali

The event had multiple segments including interactive and fun meme-themed games like 'Which meme are you?' There was also a meme election going on, where the audience could vote for their favourite meme, in a ballot box. One particularly interesting attraction was the 'History of Memes' segment where the origins of our favourite memes were told.

Speaking to TBS, one of the panellists Poushi Razzaque said, "Integrating humour while delivering a message makes it more relatable for the people. A lot of sensitive topics such as gender discrimination and mental health can easily be discussed through memes and its humour.
"We also talked about the protection of the originality of a particular meme so the integrity of the content can remain intact," she added.