The Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist programme at the University of Oxford
Ashmolean Museum and Samdani Art Foundation
announce new partnership to support Bangladeshi artists
This marks the first time a major international institution has established a sustained programme dedicated to contemporary art from Bangladesh
· The Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist programme at the University of Oxford will invite a Bangladeshi artist to the Ashmolean Museum each year
· The inaugural Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist is Munem Wasif, who will spend two weeks at the Ashmolean developing his practice through research and engagement.
· The Ashmolean will also develop a dedicated collection of contemporary art from Bangladesh, in partnership with the Samdani Art Foundation.
· This milestone marks 15 years of the Samdani Art Foundation’s continued support for Bangladeshi artists, creating new platforms and pathways for international recognition of their work
The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, and the Samdani Art Foundation announce a major new partnership supporting contemporary art from Bangladesh. The partnership establishes the Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist programme at the University of Oxford, inviting a Bangladeshi artist to Oxford each year to spend time at the Ashmolean Museum. It also comprises the development of a dedicated collection of contemporary art from Bangladesh at the Ashmolean, in partnership with the Samdani Art Foundation.
This programme marks the first sustained initiative dedicated to supporting Bangladeshi artists at a major international museum. For two weeks each year, the Ashmolean – whose Department of Eastern Art holds a distinguished collection from South Asia, the most comprehensive in the UK outside London – will offer a Bangladeshi artist dedicated time and space to develop their practice through research and engagement. Access to these resources will deepen artists’ understanding of the region’s artistic histories, opening up new knowledge and perspectives that can shape their work and contribute to the cultural landscape in Bangladesh. The Visiting Artist Programme will provide artists with an opportunity to spend time at a world-leading institution, engage with its collections and curatorial expertise, and develop connections with Oxford’s cultural and creative communities.
The programme builds on the Samdani Art Foundation’s ongoing commitment since 2011 to build opportunities for Bangladeshi artists at home and internationally, strengthening the country’s creative economy and cultural infrastructure.
Nadia Samdani MBE, President and co-founder of the Samdani Art Foundation (SAF) with Rajeeb Samdani, said: “For the last 15 years, the Samdani Art Foundation has been committed to creating opportunities for Bangladeshi artists to develop their practices and reach new audiences. From the Dhaka Art Summit and Samdani Art Award, to supporting international exhibitions, residencies and collaborations, we have built pathways for artists to connect with museums, biennales and audiences around the world, while helping Bangladesh’s cultural sector grow as a source of livelihoods, ideas and global recognition. This new partnership with the Ashmolean is a natural extension of that vision: to create lasting cultural bridges between Bangladesh and the world. We are proud to see this vision take shape at a world-leading institution, and deeply grateful to the Ashmolean for joining us in making it possible.”
Image courtesy: Ashmolean Museum
Munem Wasif has been named the inaugural Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist and is currently in Oxford as part of the programme. An artist, curator and educator based in Dhaka, Wasif’s image-based practice explores traces of impermanence and insecurity, bringing together photography, moving image, archival documents and collected objects.
Alongside the Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist programme, the Ashmolean and SAF will build a dedicated collection of contemporary art from Bangladesh, with works entering the museum’s collection each year. The Ashmolean has recently acquired works by Ashfika Rahman with support from SAF, with future acquisitions set to further enrich its extensive collection of South Asian art in the coming years. SAF will also support the Ashmolean’s ongoing research into the Bangladeshi art scene, creating a lasting institutional platform for the study and presentation of contemporary art from the country.
Dr Mallica Kumbera Landrus, Professor and Keeper of Eastern Art, Curator of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, Governing Body Fellow at St Cross College, said: “I am thrilled that, through the generosity of the Samdani Art Foundation, the Ashmolean Museum will be able to build a much deeper relationship with artists and art from Bangladesh. The Museum has remarkable collections from across South Asia, and this partnership gives us an exciting opportunity to develop that story through contemporary Bangladeshi art and artists. I am particularly looking forward to welcoming Munem Wasif as our first Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist, and to seeing the new conversations and ideas his time in Oxford will inspire.”
Munem Wasif, Artist and inaugural Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist, said: “For years, my practice has returned to the colonial history of Bengal, often through the fragments that remain. The Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist gives me a chance to look at this history more closely, through the Museum’s collections and archives. I’m interested in encountering objects and artworks firsthand, and seeing how they might connect with questions I have been exploring through photography, prints, and textiles.”
Image courtesy: Ashmolean Museum
Diana Campbell, Artistic Director of the Samdani Art Foundation, said: “We have been tirelessly at work breaking down the outdated model that separates art historians – who study the art already made – from emerging artists, who are worlding art histories still being written. Our new partnership with the Ashmolean Museum grows from this same conviction. The Ashmolean holds an impressive collection of South Asian art, and we're proud to be contributing new readings of it through our Bangladeshi Visiting Artists – readings that treat this collection not as a closed chapter, but as raw material for worlding how South Asian art and culture inform the histories of other worlds, including the ones that Bangladeshi artists are building today.”
Image courtesy: Ashmolean Museum