ALL PROJECTS Cinema Banner Painting Workshop A week-long art workshop on Cinema Banner Painting took place from 5 October 2019 at Jothashilpa Studio in the Adabor area of Dhaka, organized by Jothashilpa (A Centre for Traditional and Contemporary Arts) in cooperation with the Samdani Artists Led Initiatives Forum (SALIF). Cinema Banner painting is one of the most popular visual art languages in the South Asia. It was initiated as a publicity medium located at the movie theaters. Henceforth, its inception and evolution is heavily shaped by the growth of cinema industry in this region. To understand the origin of Cinema Banner painting, one could trace back to Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings and popular prints of 19th century, which were based on western academic style. In the field of cinema banner painting, non-academic painters had played the major role to develop its unique style in the Indian subcontinent. A distinct visual aesthetics emerged which was molded by a larger than life manifestation of cinema. A week-long art workshop on Cinema Banner Painting took place from 5 October 2019 at Jothashilpa Studio in the Adabor area of Dhaka, organized by Jothashilpa (A Centre for Traditional and Contemporary Arts) in cooperation with the Samdani Artists Led Initiatives Forum (SALIF). Master artist of traditional cinema banner painting Mohammad Shoaib conducted the workshop as a mentor, while artist and researcher Shawon Akand curated the workshop. Five participating artists from different parts of Bangladesh joined this second edition of the cinema banner painting workshop. They were Rezaur Rahman, Imtiaz Nasir, Rafiqa Majumdar, Muntasib Rahman Anan, and Hemahyet Himu. This workshop took place at Jothashilpa Studio (House 819, Road 5, Baitul Aman Housing, Adabor) from 5 to 11 October 2019. The last day of the art workshop (11 October 2019, 4 PM to 8 PM) featured an Open Studio Day for all viewers to see the artworks and meet the artists at the workshop site in Adabor, Dhaka. The goal of this workshop was to understand and exchange the special skill and visual aesthetics to produce large-scale paintings in line with the cinema banner painting style and technique. The organizers hoped that this would contribute to contemporary art practice in Bangladesh by finding a new way of visual language based on popular culture. Visit Jotha Shilpa’s website or Facebook page for more details

The Samdani Art Award, Bangladesh's premier art award, has created an internationally recognised platform to showcase the work of young Bangladeshi Artists to an audience of international arts professionals. SAMDANI ART AWARD 2023 SHORTLIST Sumi Anjuman Sumi Anjuman, হাওয়ায় নেওয়া চাঁদ, Winds carry moon, 2021-2022. Interdisciplinary medium. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b.1989 Sohorab Rabbey Sohorab Rabbey, Almanac of an eroded land, borrowed from our children 2022-2023. Installation. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b.1994 Rasel Rana Rasel Rana, একজন বাগানির স্বপ্ন , The Gardener’s Dream 2023. Acrylic on canvas. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b. 1995 Rakibul Anwar Rakibul Anwar, মহানগর, Mohanagar, 2023. Drawings on paper. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b.1993 Mojahid Musa Mojahid Musa, Assimilated Musing VI, 2022-2023. Sculptural installation using recycled materials, clay, machinery parts, wood, metal, hair, jute, ornaments, found objects from nature, adhesive. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b. 1990 Habiba Nowrose Habiba Nowrose, Salvation, 2023. Photography. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b.1989 Faysal Zaman Faysal Zaman, (অ )পূর্ণ, (un)filled, 2021-2023. Installation. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b. 1996 Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin in association with Md.Solayman, Md. Dulal & Jagannath Das, ঠাউর, Gaze, 2022-2023. Pinting on canvas, paper, wood. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b.1989 Dinar Sultana Putul Dinar Sultana Putul, A space without a ship, 2023. Mixed media. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b.1989 Ashfika Rahman Ashfika Rahman, Death of A Home, 2023. Installation. Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Samdani Art Foundation. Photographer: Farhad Rahman b. 1988 Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, মরীচিকা, Mirage 2022-2023, Photographs. MD Fazla Rabbi Fatiq b. 1995 Cumilla; lives and works in Cumilla WINNER Mirage is a series of photographs that attempts to highlight the corruption that lies behind many construction projects in Bangladesh. Focusing on numerous bridges that started to be built in canals, open fields, and agricultural lands over the past two decades - but that now lie abandoned and unused – Fatiq draws attention to the ongoing impact and the sheer scale of this predicament. In several instances, his works depict bridges that have collapsed, with their approach roads in ruins if they were ever made at all. These monumental, almost surreal forms now dominate landscapes across the country, symbolising for Fatiq the systemic corruption in the construction industry where huge budgets are misused and projects left unfinished. Although this series of photographs is devoid of people, it nonetheless conveys lost hopes of connectivity between places and communities, particularly in rural areas where local populations have no option but to move around by water for much of the year. While his works can be hauntingly beautiful, Fatiq’s approach to his subject matter is shaped by an acute social and political sensibility. In Mirage, he deftly combines aspects of traditional photography with elements of abstraction, symbolism and ambiguity, giving rise to the question of what lies underneath the surface of an image. Samdani Art Award 2023 The Samdani Art Foundation announced Bangladeshi artists Purnima Aktar and Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq as joint winners of the biannual Samdani Art Award. It is the first time two finalists have been awarded the prize which aims to support, promote and highlight the country’s emerging contemporary artists. Purnima Aktar and Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq were selected from a shortlist of 12 artists whose work was part of an exhibition curated by Anne Barlow (Director at Tate St Ives) at DAS 2023. The members of the international jury included Ibrahim Mahama, artist; Tarun Nagesh, Curator of Asian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Australia; Roobina Karode, Chief Curator, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art; and Simon Castets, Former Samdani Art Award Curator and Director of Strategic Initiatives, LUMA Arles. Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq is the recipient of the residency at the Delfina Foundation and Purnima Aktar is the recipient of the residency in Ghana, hosted by Ibrahim Mahama’s Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art and Red Clay. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar,আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023. Installation. Purnima Aktar b. 1997, Narayanganj; lives and works in Dhaka. WINNER The Sundarbans mangrove forest, known as the ‘land of eighteen tides’, is host to a vast range of flora and fauna, including the Bengal tiger. According to local folklore, the Sundarbans is watched over by Bonbibi, a revered female deity. It is said that for hundreds of years, woodcutters, honey collectors and others whose livelihoods depend on the forest, have prayed to Bonbibi to protect them from harm. Despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site, the fragile ecosystem of the Sundarbans is increasingly under threat due to climate change and environmental pollution. A Tale of Eighteen Tides is an allegorical work that explores this loss of biodiversity in the forest alongside the cultures and traditions that are in danger of dying out with it. Comprising eighteen parts, the installation depicts the figure of Bonbibi alongside a Bengal tiger and other wild animals, with those species that are already extinct painted in monochrome. Aktar’s work is inspired by nature and the myths and symbols of the Bengal Delta, as well as by artistic source including Mughal miniatures, Tantric paintings and Bangla folk art. She often combines these in her work to address issues around social and environmental justice. 2023 2020 2018 2016 2014 2012 Award Archive

The Samdani Art Award, Bangladesh's premier art award, has created an internationally recognised platform to showcase the work of young Bangladeshi Artists to an audience of international arts professionals. Khaled Hasan born 1981 WINNER Khaled Hasan (born 1981) began working as a photographer in 2001. At a young age he realised that photography is not just a camera play but a play of life with light and darkness. He chose to take this path and experience, culture and life at its fullest. Photography then became part of his identity—a force that makes him think, feel and understand human beings, life and more. Since then, Khaled has been working as a freelance photojournalist for several magazines in Bangladesh and internationally. His works were published in the New York Times, Sunday Times Magazine, American Photo, National Geographic Society, Better Photography, Saudi Aramco World Magazine, The Guardian, Telegraph, The Independent, The New Internationalist, Himal Southern, and many more. As an indigenous photographer, he tells narratives of the land that shaped him. Documenting stories about people and their interaction with nature, healing and surviving from times of distress, fighting for rights and toiling for food, and standing against injustice are the primary issues he features in his works. For Khaled, a story never ends; it just continues to develop, fades or becomes part of history but may still be documented through photography. This is why he believes that it is highly important to crystallise changes in life, especially the ones that would transcend times. For Khaled, being a photojournalist is not just being a very good photographer but being a socially responsible person too. He constantly finds fulfilment whenever his works benefit his community and the greater good. His involvement with the National Geographic Society, Inter-Press Service and other non-for-profit organisations in documenting cultural concerns show this passion. Samdani Art Award 2012 INTERVIEW SELECTION COMMITTEE Kyla McDonald (Assistant Curator, Tate) Deepak Ananth (Professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, France) Elaine W Ng (Editor and Publisher, Art Asia Pacific) Bose Krishnamachari (Founder of the Kochi Biennale) Ravinder Reddy (Artist) Shahabuddin Ahmed (Artist) The first edition of the Samdani Art Award had two prize categories: the Samdani Artist Development Award and the Samdani Young Talent Award. From 29 shortlisted artists, the jury selected artists Khaled Hasan and Musrat Reazi as the recipients of the 2012 awards. Hasan continues to practice and is now based in the United States. Reazi has recently stopped practicing to pursue other interests. 2023 2020 2018 2016 2014 2012 Award Archive Musrat Reazi born 1981 WINNER Khaled Hasan (born 1981) began working as a photographer in 2001. At a young age he realised that photography is not just a camera play but a play of life with light and darkness. He chose to take this path and experience, culture and life at its fullest. Photography then became part of his identity—a force that makes him think, feel and understand human beings, life and more. Since then, Khaled has been working as a freelance photojournalist for several magazines in Bangladesh and internationally. His works were published in the New York Times, Sunday Times Magazine, American Photo, National Geographic Society, Better Photography, Saudi Aramco World Magazine, The Guardian, Telegraph, The Independent, The New Internationalist, Himal Southern, and many more. As an indigenous photographer, he tells narratives of the land that shaped him. Documenting stories about people and their interaction with nature, healing and surviving from times of distress, fighting for rights and toiling for food, and standing against injustice are the primary issues he features in his works. For Khaled, a story never ends; it just continues to develop, fades or becomes part of history but may still be documented through photography. This is why he believes that it is highly important to crystallise changes in life, especially the ones that would transcend times. For Khaled, being a photojournalist is not just being a very good photographer but being a socially responsible person too. He constantly finds fulfilment whenever his works benefit his community and the greater good. His involvement with the National Geographic Society, Inter-Press Service and other non-for-profit organisations in documenting cultural concerns show this passion.

ALL PROJECTS Charcha Sessions Thakurgaon, 1 - 7 Dec 2018 The Samdani Art Foundation was delighted to partner with Samdani Artist Led Initiatives forum member Gidree Bawlee on their inaugural Charcha Sessions festival in rural Balla, Thakurgan, Bangladesh from December 1-7, 2018 as part of our annual grant program. The four artists in residence for in this inaugural session were Kamruzzaman Shadhin, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Khandakar Nasir Ahmed and Anisuzzaman, Rubel. Learn more about this program from the text below by Salma Jamal Moushum. The ‘Charcha Sessions’ came into being to facilitate continuing collaborations between visiting artists and the artists/artisans from the village to catalyze a long-term impact on both of their practices. As an organization Gidree Bawlee's aim is to create a balance of influence in the artistic processes of the visiting artists and the community art/craft practitioners. In the future, this project will be held several times of the year to support continuous projects that will be developed by the artists, and also to encourage new experimentation in regards to community engagement. We believe these frequent sessions will help both the visiting artists and the community art practitioners to find an equal ground in their collaborative practice. The sessions will bring interested artists in short-term (or long-term) residencies, or sometimes bring together only the community practitioners working with various materials to experiment and collaborate with each other. Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Shushila Rani and Somari Rani Yasmin Jahan Nupur has been researching the traditional practices of weaving in Bangladesh for several years. In this session she continued her research and practiced with her co-artists Shushila Rani and Somari Rani. Exploring the relationship of women's body to the waist loom while weaving, the artists experimented and attempted to push the boundaries of traditional jute weaving with backstrap looms. This is an ongoing project with learning and experimentation continuing past the residency. Kamruzzaman Shadhin and Prodip Roy Kamruzzaman Shadhin's interest in the traditional crafts of the region and their underlying history and relationship with communities has been a major part of his artistic research and journey. Shadhin and Prodip Roy have been working together for the last several years experimenting with various methods and techniques of bamboo craft. In this session, the artists worked together to transfer the brush strokes from an action painting by Shadhin into a bamboo canvas using traditional bamboo bending methods that Prodip specializes in. The bamboo platform was installed as part of the ceiling of a room of the residency. This is an on-going, process-driven collaborative experiment which will continue in the years to come. Nasir Ahammed, Shariful Islam and Shubesh Barman In his previous visit, Nasir Ahammed in collaboration with bamboo craftsmen from the community, experimented with bamboo twigs creating a large installation in collaboration with the bamboo craftsmen of the village. This time Nasir and his co-artists Shariful Islam and Shubesh Barman used dry branches and twigs and straw which were abundant due to the harvest season and created a dome-like structure which was installed in various spaces around the community. The experimentation will continue as the artists plan on more future explorations with bamboo twigs. Anisuzzaman Rubel, Chandra Kumar and community children Rubel, a recent graduate from the department of sculpture at Dhaka University, collaborated with Chandra Kumar, a clay artisan specialized in idol making. Combining both of their creativity and technique they experimented with clay, straw and bamboo which to create a shade providing sculpture beside a pond. The artists have plans to expand their experiment further in the next visits.

ALL PROJECTS A Time Comes When We Hear Nothing Amol K Patil and Ashfika Rahman Samdani Art Foundation (SAF) and FICA presented a collaborative online performance, "Voice to Voice, Screen to Screen" by Amol K Patil and Ashfika Rahman, launching their project, "A time comes when we hear nothing." The artists were awarded a grant for their project through the aegis of Stitching Screens, a platform instituted by FICA and SAF for supporting artistic collaboration across India, Bangladesh and the digital space in 2020 - 2021. Having worked on the project for over a year, Ashfika Rahman and Amol K Patil shared the final iteration of "A time comes when we hear nothing” on November 6, 2022. The project was imagined as a means of solidarity for global working-class people. An expression by two artists across borders reflecting on the collective experience of social divides during lockdown. The projected connected them through common concerns and emotions for people. Common deep pain ran through the veins of Bangladesh to India despite a geographic border. As part of our virtual launch event, we also screened an online performance by Ashfika Rahman and Amol K Patil titled, "Voice to Voice, Screen to Screen," realized in 2022 as an addition to "A time comes when we hear nothing." The performance is a cross-national conversation between two artists, a conversation symbolic of what might be shared between two laborers from Bangladesh and India. Questions of communication in two different languages. This conversation was inspired by the theatre script of Amol K Patil, referring to a long distance conversation between a migrant labourer and his wife. Here is a mundane conversation people of different nationalities and different genders transcending borders through screens evoking the monotony of a digital life. Getting into the deeper feeling of the working class. A conversation between two digital voices, two screens. The project ‘A time comes when we hear nothing’ is a means of solidarity for global working people. It showcases 1 min videos of artists’ performances across the globe, posted on an Instagram account called @a_time_comes_we_hear_nothing . The project explores the collective experience of social stratification, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. It also reflects on the plight of the migrant labor and the effects of the lockdown on those stranded at home. The videos represent occupying one minute as a means of solidarity. Visit their website to learn more about the project: A time comes when we hear nothing https://www.atimecomes.net/

ALL PROJECTS The Space Between - Rana Begum At The Parasol Unit Foundation For Contemporary Art 13th June - 18th September 2016| The Parasol Unit Foundation For Contemporary Art, London, UK Dhaka Art Summit 2014 Solo Project artist Rana Begum had her first solo show, supported by the Samdani Art Foundation at The Parasol Unit.

ALL PROJECTS Fragility and Resilience Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, 6 September - 7 December 2024 Ayesha Sultana's solo exhibition, Fragility and Resilience , curated by Sabih Ahmed, is on view at the Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai. The exhibition explores the delicate balance between the vulnerability and strength of our planet in the 21st century. Featuring a diverse array of artworks that includes the first-ever unveiling of Sultana’s hand-blown glass sculptures, the exhibition is designed to guide viewers through a journey of discovery and reflection. The Samdani Art Foundation has loaned several works from our collection for the exhibition, alongside contributions from prominent collectors including Prateek & Priyanka Raja, Akshay Chudasama, the Ishara Art Foundation, and the Prabhakar Collection.

ALL PROJECTS Akāliko and Jatiwangi Dhaka Art Summit 2020 Akāliko means ‘timelessness’ in Pali, the language of the Buddhist scriptures, reflecting the group’s belief that musical forms have always been present in everyday life in society. The promotion of electronic and experimental music is at the heart of Akāliko’s activities and they collaborate with artists and professionals who make digital and sound art. Born out of Dhaka’s electronica scene, the group was originally established in 2012 as an independent music production label set up to address the need for a common platform to promote the work of ‘bedroom’ music producers. They collaborate with like-minded performance artists, writers, choreographers/dancers, communication specialists, psychologists, and, most recently, sound artists, while at the same time maintaining their label. Their compositions are streamed online and can be experienced in this listening station. Jatiwangi Art Factory in Indonesia, located in the rural district of Jatiwangi that includes 16 villages, has been developing new community-based practices that take as their point of departure the local material of clay, particularly drawing on histories of roof tile production. Activities have ranged from tasting, chemically testing and cooking local clay to developing a Ceramic Music Festival using clay-based instruments to reanimate ceramic production. The elemental matter of clay makes more complex our relationship to the earth and calls up widespread mythological stories of humans being shaped from this. A listening station within the exhibition connects visitors with the sounds this collective creates that emerge from the ground of Indonesia. Through a mini-residency catalysed through DAS, Akaliko and Jatiwangi have explored parallels between the clay-based visual cultures as well as sonic qualities of Indonesia and Bangladesh. Looking out the window into the garden outside, visitors can see collaborative instruments created in Bangladesh which will be activated through several jam sessions on the closing 3 days of DAS from 4–8pm. Jatiwangi’s travel to DAS 2020 was generously supported by the Indonesian Embassy of Bangladesh. Image by Noor Photoface

ALL PROJECTS The River Remembers at Islamic Arts Biennale 2023 Jeddah Kamruzzaman Shadhin was commissioned to show his new project The River Remembers (2023), for the Islamic Arts Biennale 2023, curated by DAS 2023 artist Sumayya Vally. Samdani Art Foundation has supported the transportation of the project.

ALL PROJECTS B/DESH Curated by Deepak Ananth B/DESH is shorthand for Bangladesh, of course, but also, bidesh , the Bangla word for abroad, a foreign land, an extraterritorial elsewhere. Desh, on the other hand, designates a homeland, accompanied by a sense or semblance of a national identity, however notional or real. So the home and the world are conjoined and separated by the most tenuous of lexical and phonetic expedients: the slender slash differentiating desh and bidesh that could also be seen as a marker of everything that lies between them. And ‘in between-ness’ is, if anything, a perenially shifting ground, a provisional state that might itself be an image of that potential undifferentiation of identity and alterity, ‘self’ and ‘other’ symptomatic of the globalised present. To have a sense of rootedness and yet not be insular, to acknowledge the feeling of homelessness (the spiritual malaise par excellence of the modern condition) and find new ways of negotiating it in the face of the neutralisation of difference that is the cultural logic of globalisation - these are some of the burdens faced by those once relegated to the margins and now deemed to be ‘emerging’ on the world scene. The tragically fraught history of Bangladesh’s coming into being as a nation, the chronicle of political turmoil and violence that has marked its relatively short existence as an independent state, cannot but be salient in the consciousness of the country’s intellectuals and artists and in their attempts to make sense of the vicissitudes of the present. To be a witness to their times is for many of them an ethical stance. For artists this imperative is doubled by another, namely, the need to find the form and medium most appropriate to their vision of the reality in which they find themselves. For many years now documentary photography has proved to be particularly compelling for a range of practitioners in Bangladesh, and the subjects they have tended to focus upon would seem to demand such an approach. But often their eyes have been schooled in allegorical or conceptual ways of seeing, and questions of ‘objectivity’ that underlie the documentary stance are subtly callibrated to the degree of empathy or distance they bring to their approach, as in Shumon Ahmed’s ongoing project within the ship graveyard on the Chittagong coast, reputedly the largest in the world. For Gazi Nafis, on the other hand, the camera has been the instrument to capture intimate moments in the lives of a range of sexual minorities, in images that betoken an engaging complicity with these social outcasts. In contrast, the anthropological nature of some of the subjects explored by the Australian Bengali artist Omar Adnan Chowdhury (the juxtaposition of a Hindu and a Shia festival in old Dhaka, for example) in his large scale audio-visual installations becomes the occasion for a slow, immersive and contemplative sensory experience. For some artists working in media that are not lens-based, the fix of the real is less than imperious. The peculiar assortment of creaturely forms that people the paintings of Ronnie Ahmed, for example, are the denizens of a parallel world that is gleefully awry and somewhat hallucinatory all at the same time. The oneirism of his work couldn’t be further removed from the cool detachment that Ayesha Sultana brings to her pictorial representations of familiar urban spaces, their blank allure a façade for something verging on the uncanny. Another aspect of her work dispenses with representation altogether, the more to explore the poetics of graphic inscription and the material qualities of surface and texture. This interest in investigating the rudiments of form is shared by Rana Begum, who was born in Bangladesh but grew up in Britain. Her interest in the pristine geometry of sharply angled coloured planes (in paper or aluminium) and the ways in which these might become receptacles of light inform her sculptural practice ; her rigorous and yet sensuous abstraction hints at the subtle coalescence of the Islamic architectural ideal of emptiness as a numinous space and the pared-down unitary forms of Minimalist sculpture. The formal ‘syncretism’ of Begum’s work could be contrasted with the exercises in cultural translation and critique undertaken by the conceptual artist and writer Naeem Mohaiemen, who divides his time between Dhaka and New York. Working with photography and film, he has sought to recover and critically reframe certain key emblematic moments and events (both private and public) in the tragic history that led to independence and the creation of a sovereign state. As a writer and as an artist, Mohaiemen’s work has dwelt perceptively on the political, ideological and cultural implications of B/DESH and the complexities of its current trajectories. Artists Naeem Mohaiemen Rana Begum Omar Adnan Chowdhury Ronni Ahmed Shumon Ahmed

ALL PROJECTS MOTHERTONGUE, Australian Center for Contemporary Art 22 April- 18 June 2023, Melbourne, Australia mOTHERTONGUE surveyed the past two decades of Mithu Sen’s compelling art practice, including a series of major new installations. The exhibition was presented as an illuminated mind map. As a constellation of image and word associations that move between visible surfaces and interior states, mOTHERTONGUE charts how language is channelled into forms as diverse as drawing, sculpture, media and performance to create complex artworks which elude definitional categories, institutional power structures and imposed identities related to race, gender, ethnicity and location. Her work 'Batil Kobitaboli (Poems Declined), 2014' from DAS 2014 was also in display. Rather than celebrate her success or importance as a South Asian artist, Mithu Sen used her invitation to DAS 2014 to create a project called Poems Declined that celebrates the work and efforts of poets whose work was not previously given prominence or attention, to those whose work was declined or rejected. In her experience in Dhaka, Sen realized that poetry was not limited to poets, the Bangla language itself was poetry, and poetry itself is a language in Bangladesh, sharing that “In Bangladesh, the language is not Bengali but Poetry.” This exhibition is presented in partnership with Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) .

ALL PROJECTS দ্বৈধ (A Duality) Curated by Bishwajit Goswami with research support from Muhammad Nafisur Rahman, in collaboration with Brihatta Art Foundation দ্বৈধ (A Duality) Curated by Bishwajit Goswami (Assistant Professor, Department of Drawing and Painting, University of Dhaka) with research support from Muhammad Nafisur Rahman (Assistant Professor of Communication Design at the School of Design, College of DAAP, University of Cincinnati), in collaboration with Brihatta Art Foundation To think about Bangladesh is to think about the riverine, the deltaic landscape often evoking an idyllic imagining. To read about Bangladesh is to also read about floods and storms, and destruction designed by nature. To understand Bangladesh however, is to acknowledge the duality that flows through this land, its dwellers and natural environment interacting in unfettered fluidity in various forms. In welcoming the new year, we sing an ode to invite the stormy nor'westers (Kalboishakhi) to cleanse impurities and herald a fresh start. In embracing the destructive forces of nature, we accept the lessons it teaches us, the reality of the everyday struggles and the manifestation of the resilience of the Bengali spirit to hope for better days. The ambivalent relationship between man and the lived environment, people and nature, finds new modes of storytelling through these expressions. দ্বৈধ (Dyoidho) upholds that relationship by showcasing the fluidity found in the riverine nature of Bengal. The exhibition engages the human senses through color, form and its essence. Combining artistic research and practice, each section of the exhibition sheds light on a different aspect of duality in our everyday surroundings creating an immersive experience. Just as the waterways trace a path from the Himalayan springs to the estuaries of Padma, Meghna and Jamuna at the Bay of Bengal, the narrations traverse the artistic space following the way of the rivers. Sensory immersion is evoked both by the sound of paddy in the harvest festival, while the uneven gallery walls simulate the moist coarseness of the delta-soil. The chaos during coastal calamity resonates in the exhibition’s soundscape, as the seasonal qualities of Bangladesh’s climate: the humid summer, the refreshing monsoon, the dryness of winter all arouse affect, evoking emotion and memory. The dual manifestations of mother nature, nurturing and severe by turns, find new narrative forms where the beauty of the Sundarbans are juxtaposed against the insolent chimneys of bricks, coal and smoke; environmentalist movements are paired with creative performances eliciting thought-provoking contextual commentary on present-day reality. In the duality of light and darkness, the impure and gray forms of our destroyed environment are invoked, while hope shines at the edge of the horizon. দ্বৈধ (Dyoidho) evokes the idea of artifice, where things are not as they seem and artists, architects, designers, photographers and researchers come together in collaboration to set the stage for this discourse. As the urban character “Tokai” engages the environment in conversation and the dryprimitive aroma of hay connotes our agrarian roots—we extend an open invitation to participate in the discussion and to critique the apparent binaries of nature. Through texture, sound, smell, materiality, and color, the exhibition is activated in the creative imaginary and transformed by the experience of the audience. In the presentation of individual and collective experimental artworks, দ্বৈধ (Dyoidho) seeks to raise critical questions, reveal answers, and create dialogue between nature, the lived environment and our human connection to it. We welcome you to join the conversation. The exhibition is divided into six segments. Estuary Welcome to the untarnished estuary of land, air and water where our relationship with nature is fluid and ever-changing. As we immerse ourselves in the familiar and nostalgic sound of husking rice during the harvest season, Rafiqun Nabi's popular character “Tokai” cheekily questions the nature of our urban beliefs. The scent of newly harvested dry hay underlines our cultural nostalgia and our agricultural past. This sentiment is strengthened through the depictions of the seasons through Ahmed Shamsuddoha's Summer, Jamal Ahmed's Monsoon, Alakesh Ghosh's Autumn, Anisuzzaman Anis's Late Autumn, Sheikh Afzal Hossain's Winter, and Kanak Chanpa Chakma's Spring as they transform Hashem Khan's well-cherished memories of Bangladesh’s six seasons opening up a new avenue of discourse. Emerging artist Damasush Hacha's animation adds a new dimension to this conversation. Soma Surovi Jannat’s video artwork reflects the diversity stories found in the extensive water basin dialoguing in tandem with Abdul Gaffar Babu’s unique floating site specific installation. Fluidity Bengalis are easily drawn to the rippling rivers, developing an affection to the murky waters of riverine soil almost instantaneously. Both the abundance and scarcity of water define our daily livelihood, various feelings, or passions; this land of evening ‘Bhatiali’ songs is a serene aquatic canvas as it moves along with the rivers. As a response to the rivers’ temperament, Marina Tabassum's architectural model projects a silhouette of alternative hope that can overcome the shifting ebb and flow of the tide. Alak Roy’s sculptural piece presents the interrelation between the sacrificial and redemptive dynamic between water and land, while Tarun Ghosh’s artwork conveys an imagery of the intuitive exploration of everyday domestic qualities. Summing up this duality inherent in both the people and the wetlands, Dhali Al Mamoon portrays a new relation between a treasured memorable past and the strange aridity of the present. The Land Bengal's alluvial soil produces yearlong abundant harvests. Its nurturing quality is cherished by the artists who draw upon its wealth. Monirul Islam actively cultivates these tenets into his creative practice transforming commonplace daily objects into an expression of artistry that elevates and comments on the complexity of our relationship with our organic world. Through its nurturing quality, Bengali art pays tribute to femininity creating a magical connection with nature’s various manifestations. In her quest for her female self identity, Nazlee Laila Mansur combines surrealism with reality. Through the fluid and rhythmic brushstrokes in Farida Zaman’s Sufiya, we glimpse a dreamlike world evoked by Mother Nature. The power and resilience of the feminine is exemplified in Dilara Begum Jolly's installations and in Rokeya Sultana’s Madonna. Through Chandravati, Bengal's first female poet from Kishorgonj, Abdus Shakoor Shah pays tribute to the power of storytelling and “Parul”— the ever-familiar creation of master puppeteer Mustafa Monwar—joins this conversation in earnest. In understanding the tenderness of nature and the feelings of nurturing, Joydeb Roaza helps us visualise the tender roots of the sounds and feelings through his performance Tender Roots. Source Originating from the Himalayan Gangotri Glacier, the ancient Ganges exists to purify. The ever-familiar Padma, Meghna, and Jamuna rivers have changed the shape of this delta, saturating the earth with loam, alluvium and life. However, we, the ungrateful urbanites, repay that generosity by disposing our waste into the Buriganga. Mohammad Eunus’s Metaphor of a Wounded River paints that final heartbeat as nature gives in to relentless urban settlement. Through the mix of industrial and organic materials, Mahmuda Siddika’s leather collage comments on the extinction of the Buriganga. Mojahid Musa’s sculpture embodies the unusual and phantasmagorical form of the obscure darkness and fearful uncertainty of the future which is juxtaposed by Soma Surovi Jannat’s mural work where light heralds a new hope and a new resolution for the future. In the duality of light and darkness, people confront the contaminated and polluted reality of our present while holding hope for the future. Through their solo performances playing with colour, touch, and fragrance, Yasmin Jahan Nupur and Niloofar Chaman manifest the duality of both the lamentation and promise of our human condition. Indebtedness The Sundarbans, surrounded by loam, are a symbol of the deep trust in the preservation of the balance and diversity of our environment. Anisuzzaman Faroque’s installation represents the steadfast mangroves that defy the constant torrential tides, clinging to the southern border of our delta. They protect us decade after decade from the catastrophic side of nature unconditionally without any expectation or compensation. Shahid Kabir expresses this coexistence between the forests with the local inhabitants and Mostafizul Haque’s series Golpata depicts the evolution of this huge terrain. Hamiduzzaman Khan’s mural portrays a confluence of the duality of fresh and saltwater under the vast sky of the extensive Sundarbans. Meanwhile, Abul Barq Alvi provides us with a bird’s eye view of the brick kilns with fumes that engulf the surrounding landscape, and Nisar Hossain's painting Towards Annihilation reinforces the idiosyncratic emotions that man contains and performs against nature. Contradiction Bengalis remain optimistic even when faced with great adversity. The wrath of nature claims our homes and assets repeatedly along with priceless memories made over a lifetime. Recognising the silent desperate lament of the climate refugees, Abir Abdullah’s photo series documents their plight in an effort to discover the potent source of hope that propels them onward. The chaos brought on by the changeable and temperamental rivers permeate the lives of everyone and the nostalgic backdrop of Ahmed Rasel's visual storytelling holds up the constant fear of the devastation brought on by the ever-eroding river. This duality inherent in our natural habitat is reinforced both through the fictitious world found in Ashrafia Adib's virtual reality piece and Khairul Alam Shada’s cinematic portrayal of our natural surroundings. These contradictory perspectives are explored through Mohammed Emran Hossain's architectural installation of the periscope which refracts, reflects and reframes various angles symbolically empowering each of us to create a dramatic synthesis of our own perspectives of self-realisation, intuition, and worldview. Acknowledgements: We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the following individuals and organisations for their generous cooperation in helping make this project possible. Curatorial Team: Bishwajit Goswami (Curator and Researcher), Muhammad Nafisur Rahman (Key Research Support), Shouro Dasgupta (Research Assistance), Kashfia Arif (Editor), Souradeep Dasgupta (Content Development), Zannatun Nahar Nijhum (Content Development), Humaira Hossain (Content Development), Anadiny Mogno (Content Development), Nusrat Mahmud (Project Manager), Atkia Sadia Rahman (Project Coordinator), Tirtha Saha (Project Support). Documentation : Anas Bin Iqbal (Editorial support), Arup Mandal (Video and Photography), Farid Ahmed Rafi (Photography) Logistics: Tanzid Parvez, Din Islam Hossain Sayem Gallery Logistics: Md. Shahadat Hossain, Nurun Nahar, Niloy Mankhin, Ruposhree Hajong, Mohammad Ashraful, Ekmot Ali, Sohel Chowdhury, Faruk Hossain Art Mediators and Volunteers: Anadiny Mogno, Anas Bin Iqbal, Apu Nandi, Arup Mandal, Farhana Rafiq Achol, Farid Ahmed Rafi, Fatin Fida Arko, Kamrun Nahar, Konika Mahian, Jisan Sajjad, Sarker Tukhor, Shaidul Alam Shifat, Tirtha Saha, Rizwan Bin Iqbal Social Media: Anas Bin Iqbal, Atkia Sadia Rahman, Nusrat Mahmud, Nusrat Jahan, Arup Mandal, Farid Ahmed Rafi Exhibition Production: Abdur Razzaq and Team (Gallery Preparation), Amal Sarker and Team (Structural Installation), Chanchal Kumar Shil (Printing), Md Humayun Kabir and Team (Metalwork), Helal Samrat (Production Volunteer), Bijoy Devnath & Munia Ahmed Mim (Architectural Scale Model Making) Special Thanks: Abdullah Al Mahmud Mahin, Bipul Mallick, Enayetullah Khan, Farhan Azim, Imran uz-zaman, Mohammad Kamrul, Mong Mong Sho, Nisar Hossain, Ramzan Ali Chowdhury, Rezwan Rahman, Saiqa Iqbal Meghna, Sharmilie Rahman, Sourav Chowdhury, Sony Kumar Sen, Syed Kushal, Tania Sultana Bristy. Zareen Mahmud.