Bangladesh Folk Art and Craft Foundation was established on March 12, 1975 by Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin in an old house in Panam Nagar, Sonargaon, with the aim of retaining the culture and folk art of rural Bangladesh. The Folk and Crafts Foundation is spread over an area of about 16 hectares, including the Thakurbari Bhavan and Isha Khan Toran in Panam City. This foundation has Gopinath Saha Sardar House, Zainul Abedin Historical Struggle Sculpture, Bangabandhu Historical Speech Bust Sculpture, Zainul Abedin Sculpture, Zainul Abedin Memorial Museum, Folk Stage, Seminar Room, Craft Village and a vast garden surrounded by greenery.
More than 4500 ancient exhibits are housed in Zainul Abedin Memorial Museum. There are various artistic and daily use products made by the skillful hands of the ancient artists of the villages of Bangladesh. Skilled artists have brought out the rural traditions of ancient Bengal in every creation. Apart from this, in the various galleries of the museum, you will see various ancient artifacts including wood carvings, paintings, masks, primitive life patterns, folk musical instruments, terracotta plaques, iron copper-cast-brass utensils, folk ornaments.
A month-long folk art fair is held here every year in winter. Besides, many times this type of folk art fair is organized before Pahela Boishakh. Apart from the traditional clothing of Bangladesh Jamdani Hat, various rural accessories such as Gaja, Muri Murki etc are available in the fair full of rural atmosphere.
Schedule and Entry Fee
Bangladesh Folk and Crafts Foundation is closed on Thursdays. Besides, the museum is open from 9 am to 5 pm on the rest of the week. However, it is open on special public holidays such as Eid, Victory Day, Independence Day, February 1st, Pahela Baishakh, National Mourning Day.
Sonargaon Museum entry ticket fee is Tk 50 per person, Tk 100 for foreign visitors. However, students can enter at Tk 30 per person. In addition, the entry fee for large Sardarbari is 100 taka, for foreigners it is 200 taka.
How to go
You can directly go to Sonargaon in Narayanganj district by taking your own transport such as private car or microbus from Dhaka. If you want to go by local transport then you will get various counter service buses going from Gulistan to Mograpara intersection. In this case, you can choose Swadesh or Doel. Besides, you can take a bus of your choice and get down at Mograpara intersection by rickshaw or CNG and go to Folk and Crafts Foundation.