Academy of Bangla Arts and Culture

ABAC is the acronym for the Academy of Bangla Arts and Culture. ABAC, pronounced 'awe-BAAK,' is a Bangla (or Bengali) word that connotes wonder or awe.

Bangla is a language, an ethnicity, and for about a fifth of a billion people of this planet, a critical component of their identity. According to the Summer Institute for Linguistics' Ethnologue Survey, almost 200 million people consider Bangla their native language, making it the fourth-most widely spoken language in the world. (Other influential surveys rank it at the fifth or sixth positions.) Bangla, also referred to as Bengali, is the modern Indo-Aryan Language of Bengal, which is a geographical region in the East Indian subcontinent, comprising the country of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.

ABAC, the Academy of Bangla Arts and Culture, is a 501(C)(3) non-profit, cultural organization, serving the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex since 1989, with the generous support of the Irving Arts Center, your tax-deductible donations, and the selfless dedication and hard work of countless individuals.

The mission of ABAC includes participation and encouraging participation of individuals and groups in cultural, artistic, and academic events, to foster an exchange of ideas, and create environments, experiences and events conducive to learning and intellectual growth.

Specific activities of ABAC include -

* study circles, seminars, conferences, semiformal discussion sessions, invited lectures, and readings;

* stage performances, including theatrical productions, dance, vocal and instrumental music, and recitations;

* a bangla language, music and dance school for children in Irving, Texas.

The vision of ABAC is to have a far-reaching impact on the thoughts, ideologies and activities of people affiliated with the language, arts, culture, philosophies, mores, and mythologies of the people of, or with roots in, Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. The Academy endeavors to foster an awareness and appreciation of the highest levels of creative work of the Bengali-loving intelligentsia among the intellectually curious in Irving, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and strives to reach out to the citizens of a global community encompassing Bangladesh, West Bengal, and any other geographical area attainable.