Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 7:00 PM Enjoy an elegant evening at the Embassy of Bangladesh Cocktail and Wine Reception to Meet the Artist-- and the Best Cuisine from Three Embassy chefs! Event Details You are cordially invited to an unprecedented culinary experience with an embassy chef competition featuring the chefs from the embassies of Serbia, Bangladesh, as well as the personal chef of the Portuguese ambassador who will present to you delectable delicacies from 3 diverse regions of the world! Join us at the Embassy of Bangladesh for an evening of exquisite art and divine tastes as we present an event sure to please your eyes and your palate! Our journey begins with a cocktail reception, and a chance to view the paintings of Khurshid Alam Saleem in his exhibition “Discovery of Art in Nature.” Then, get a taste of a different kind of art... one sure to tickle your tastebuds! ICDC has assembled three Embassy chefs from Portugal, Serbia, and Bangladesh to battle it out in a test of culinary artistry and skill to win your favor. Our three chefs each have selected a cocktail, an appetizer and a dessert representative of their country. Each competitor will bring only the very best of what their culture has to offer for you to sample, before voting on who's tastes will win the day, in an epic chef battle that's not to be missed! Tickets only $49 for a limited time but reserve them soon as this event is sure to be popular and sell out! Dinner Menu Menu from Chef of the Embassy of Bangladesh Singara (vegetables, potatoes, beans) Sambosa Chicken with coriander sauce Vegetable Rolls Variety of vegetables with special spices Crispy fried Shrimps Desserts Rosomalai Kalajamun Lassi Menu from Chef of Embassy of Portugal (Ambassador’s Chef)  Grilled cod fish toast - Apple with blood sausage cream - Roasted mushrooms filled with "farinheira" - Chourizo and cheese Desserts - Custard cream puff tarts (Pastel de Nata) - Heavenly sweet (Toucinho do Céu) with sorbet. Menu from Chef of Embassy of Serbia Asparagus Canoli Burek (pie with feta cheese) Cvapcici &Ajvar (homemade sausage w/roasted peppers spread) Frutta de Mare (salad w/calamari, lobster, shrimp, scallops) Pogaca (homemade bread served w/eggplant spread) Dessert:   Varazdinske Krempite Zuta torta and Bajadere Soft drinks (soda and juice) will be served along with wine and spirits at the open bar. Requested Attire Business or cocktail attire requested. Tickets and Registration Discounted General admission tickets are only $49 for a very limited time. Please reserve your tickets soon, as ticket prices will go up. After a limited amount of time, tickets will be $75. Please reserve your tickets online on the ICDC Web site at your earliest convenience, as space at the embassy is limited and we expect this event to sell out. http://www.internationalclubdc.com Cancellation Policy Please note that all ticket sales are final. We are unable to offer cancelations or refunds on ticket purchases. Address Embassy of Bangladesh 3510, International Drive NW Washington, DC 20008, USA Additional Event Information & Notes About the Artist Khurshid Alam Saleem has been living at the US since the mid 1980s.While a student of the Institute of Fine Art at Dhaka University, he picked up, what is known here as academic style, but soon began a search for his own personal style. He progressed through an early fascination for rhythmic expressionism through experimentations with geometric forms and lines, to emerge with an abstract style that makes color the most important element in his composition along with contrasting or overlapping forms. Nature seems to be Saleem's focus in many of his paintings but he also seems to be interested in man's relationship with nature. Salem's paintings are an attempt to project into a plastic medium an abstract vision of joy and beauty. About the Exhibition Khurshid Alam Saleem’s art, which is often described as abstract expressionism, has been accused of being hollow and repetitive. Someone even called it frivolous, dismissing it as accidental and gestural. He mainly deal with nature. The nature that surrounds us is an infinite source of wonder and beauty. It is static and at the same continually changing. You stand before an ocean and you see rumbling waves crashing against a shore. After a while, this may become monotonous – the same wave of white foams forming and informing itself over and over again. And yet, each wave that hits a shore is different and unique. Each wave, if you listen carefully, brings a new tune, sings a new song, tells a new story. There is nothing accidental or chance about these waves repeating over and over again. To a vigilant mind and careful listener, this is a unique experience that reveals itself in many layers, and unfolds in many dimensions. He finds inspiration in the tiniest detail of nature – a drop of rain water, a falling autumn leaf, a speck of white in a blue sky, a crack on earth after a prolonged drought, bark of a tree that bears witness to many visitors resting underneath. Each of these elements contains a new story for me and a fresh invitation to embark on a new journey. A viewer can take the same moments depicted on the canvas, reprocess them in his or her mind and experience a completely unexpected discovery. He likes bright and bold colors. Nature is not always bright and bold, but consciously depict my nature in those high-pitched colors, because, like in a song, he likes his chorus part to be loud and joyous so that he can renew himself with hope. In other words, art for him – like nature itself – is a source of hope and inspiration. By bringing this internalized experience out on the canvas, he invites his viewers to imbue themselves with the same exhilaration and promise.