Midnight's Third Child

A discussion on the book “Midnight’s Third Child” with the Author Naeem Mohaiemen and Architect Salauddin Ahmed, was arranged on May 25 at Bengal Institute in association with Nokta Arts.

Naeem Mohaiemen combines films, photographs, and essays to research socialist utopias, malleable borders, and fragile families and is an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at Columbia University, New York. The title of the book “Midnight’s Third Child” is inspired by the Bangla phrase: “chagol’er tritiyo baccha lafay beshi” (the goat’s third child jumps more). He explains that the phrase suggests that the youngest needs to strive for maternal sustenance. It is also Mohaiemen’s satirical response to the title of Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children (1981). The reference points to what was left out of the majority of postcolonial art history–the many fates of the geography of Bangladesh.

During the session, the author read excerpts from the book among conversations with Ar. Salauddin Ahmed. This was followed by an interactive Q&A session between the audience and the speakers after the talk.