Bangladeshi Priest Launches New Book “Echoes of Silence” at International Mime Festival

The 6th International Mime Festival at the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) of the University of Dhaka saw the official launch of a new book titled “Echoes of Silence: Exploring the Timeless Art of Mime”, written by Dr. Father Tapan Camillus De Rozario, a Catholic priest and professor at the University of Dhaka.

The youth-led mime organization Dhaka University Mime Action (DUMA) organized the annual festival, which this year brought together artists from Denmark, Turkey, South Korea, India, and Bangladesh. The event highlighted mime as an art form that transcends cultural boundaries, with Fr. De Rozario’s book presented as both a study and celebration of this “language of silence.” The book is available in both English and Bengali.

“The language of silence, mime, is an ancient yet ever-evolving form of expression that transcends the limitations of speech,” Fr. De Rozario said at the launch. “This book is born out of a firm belief that mime is not merely a theatrical form; it is a profound language of the human spirit, one that tells stories, educates, heals, preserves culture, and serves as a tool for social transformation.”

The book is written for a wide readership: theatre students will find it a historical and practical guide; performers will discover technical and inspirational direction; educators and therapists are offered insights into mime’s educational and healing potential; while researchers are presented with fresh perspectives on mime’s cultural, aesthetic, and semiotic dimensions.

Ordained in 1986 by Saint Pope John Paul II, Fr. Tapan De Rozario currently serves as Associate Professor in the Department of World Religions and Culture at the University of Dhaka. A scholar with a Licentiate and PhD in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, he is also a cultural activist deeply engaged in interfaith dialogue, justice, peace, and harmony.

He is the founding moderator of both Dhaka University Mime Action (DUMA) and the Dhaka University Leadership Development Society (DULDS). Since its founding in 2011 with the slogan “Let the unsaid be spoken through silence,” DUMA has performed more than 800 times nationally and internationally, including in Armenia, Morocco, India, China, and South Korea.

Fr. De Rozario’s latest work stands as a passionate call for dialogue, empathy, and humanity, expressed through the universal, silent language of mime.