ALL PROJECTS Pasar Ilmu, Activation Programme by Gudskul Goethe Institut Auditorium, Dhaka, 5 Aug 2019 (It is to invent a learning space in where people participate in deciding what’s needed and learning material.)

The Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) is an international, non-commercial research and exhibition platform for art and architecture related to South Asia. With a core focus on Bangladesh, DAS re-examines how we think about these forms of art in both a regional and an international context. 2023 2020 2018 2016 2016 Dhaka Art Summit Founded in 2012 by the Samdani Art Foundation—which continues to produce the festival—in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, DAS is hosted every two years at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. DAS is a platform to catalyse a rich context for research and artistic production in the future through empowering artists and the public through the interaction between its exhibition, education and public programmes. Rejecting the traditional biennale format to create a more generative space for art and exchange, DAS’s interdisciplinary programme concentrates its endeavours towards the advancement and promotion of South Asia’s contemporary and historic creative communities, building alliances through shared values with international practices and initiatives. Chief Curator Diana Campbell leads the Summit with international key curators, artists, and thinkers. The Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) is an international, non-commercial research and exhibition platform for art and architecture related to South Asia. With a core focus on Bangladesh, DAS re-examines how we think about these forms of art in both a regional and an international context. For each edition of DAS, Bangladeshi artists shortlisted for the Samdani Art Award exhibit their work under the guidance of an international guest curator. Organised in partnership with the Delfina Foundation, the Award has created an internationally recognised platform for the work of young Bangladeshi artists. Many shortlisted artists have later exhibited or acquired by international exhibitions and institutions, such as Tate, SF MoMA, the Kunsthalle Zurich, Gwangju Biennale, Singapore Biennale, Lyon Biennale, Asia Pacific Triennial, Sharjah Biennial, Para Site, and many others. All of DAS’s exhibitions are supported by an ambitious commissions programme, which invites internationally acclaimed contemporary artists related to South Asia to create new work. Past commissions include Lynda Benglis, Simryn Gill, Po Po, Rasheed Araeen, Damian Ortega, Nilima Sheikh, Monika Sosnowska, Daniel Steegmann Mangrane, along with and some of the most exciting names from the region: Sheela Gowda, Ayesha Sultana, Waqas Khan, Munem Wasif, Zihan Karim, Randhir Singh, Seher Shah, Reetu Sattar, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Kamruzzaman Shahdin, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Tanya Goel, and many more. Celebrated for its critically acclaimed exhibitions by local and international arts professionals, many of DAS’s past projects have toured internationally to venues and festivals, including Para Site in Hong Kong; TS1 in Yangon; the Modern Art Museum in Warsaw; the Berlin Biennale; the Gwangju Biennale; the Singapore Biennale; the Queens Museum, New York; Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland; Artspace in Sydney; the Office for Contemporary Art Norway; the San Jose Museum of Art, USA; the Liverpool Biennial; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Sri Lanka; Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway; and MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Thailand. Free to the public and ticketless, DAS 2023 drew over half a million visitors across its nine-day duration. Expanding from its initial South Asia mandate, DAS 2018 created new connections between South, South East Asia, and the Indian Ocean belt, exhibiting artists from Thailand, Malaysia, Madagascar, the Philippines, and several other countries. DAS 2020 expanded further to connect widely across the Global South based on shared struggles rather than current geopolitical definitions. DAS 2023 took a planetary approach through the lens of climate change. SEVENTH EDITION TONDRA We are pleased to introduce you to the theme we have been dreaming up with our curators and art mediators for the 7th edition of DAS - TONDRA. The meaning of the word TONDRA in Bangla can be described as a state of existence where reality and dreams collide; a lucid dream that captivates the soul. TONDRA is also a common female name in Bangladesh, which became popular during the mid 1990s-2000s for a character named Tondra in a novel by the Bangladeshi author Humayun Ahmed. Our story of TONDRA emerged from heartbreak expressed by a young visitor at DAS 2023, who wrote messages for a woman named TONDRA on the walls of our exhibition such as “Everyone is here, but you are missing from my life”. His writing style ranged from graffiti to poetry, referring to his Tondra as ‘a cloudy day’ and other beautiful metaphors that connected his deepest personal feelings for his beloved to the stories and films of Humayun Ahmed. EXPLORE FIFTH EDITION DAS 2020 সঞ্চারণ / Seismic Movements Inspired by the geological reading of the word ‘summit’ as the top of a mountain, Seismic Movements: Dhaka Art Summit 2020 (DAS 2020) considers the various ruptures that have realigned and continue to shift the face of our spinning planet. Seismic movements do not adhere to statist or nationalist frameworks. They join and split apart tectonics of multiple scales and layers; their epicentres don’t privilege historical imperial centres over the so-called peripheries; they can slowly accumulate or violently erupt in an instant. EXPLORE FOURTH EDITION DAS 2018 The fourth edition of the Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) took place from 2 to 10 February 2018, featuring both an Opening Celebration Weekend (February 2–4) and a closing Scholars’ Weekend (February 8–10), and several tiers of new programming. Produced and primarily funded by the Samdani Art Foundation, DAS 2018 was held in a public-private partnership with the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the country’s National Academy of Fine and Performing Arts, with support from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Ministry of Information of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the National Tourism Board, the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), and in association with the Bangladesh National Museum. EXPLORE - Jonathan Shaughnessy, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art | Conservateur associé, art contemporainNational Gallery of Canada | Musée des beaux-arts du Canada (DAS 2020) "I feel most fortunate to have had the chance to return to the 2020 Dhaka Art Summit after my initial visit in 2016. The focus on collective practices, “South to South” and indigenous networks that guided the programming within the context of Seismic Movements was grounded, insightful, and provided many crucial perspectives on the otherwise often untethered expanses of today’s “global” art world. A dynamic gathering of artists, minds, and both general and specialized audiences, the strength of DAS (notwithstanding the clear breadth of research, organization and planning that goes into it) is that it is a platform that knows concertedly from where it speaks, and to what ends it serves, while fostering timely and urgent conversations across local, national, and international lines." - Alain Berset, President of Switzerland (DAS 2018) “It’s intense and you can feel lot of energy - this is somehow logical when you think of Bangladesh as a country with 160 million inhabitants and a very young population - you can actually feel the energy in the exhibition.” - Elisabeth van Odijk, Director, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (the Netherlands) (DAS 2018) “Visiting Dhaka Art Summit 2018 was an interesting and challenging experience. A great opportunity to get more insight in contemporary art from e.g. Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, in the recent ‘art history’ of South Asia and in the ‘cultural’ discourse going on. I am more than impressed by the level and richness delivered by the Art Summit as well as by the open and transparent atmosphere. I learned a lot. The visit broadened my insight into cultural developments in South Asia, and enriched my professional network at different levels. I am looking forward to the next edition!” - Gregor Muir, Director of Collection, International Art, Tate (DAS 2020) "Dhaka Art Summit reveals itself in wonderful myriad ways. That the summit centres on the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy makes perfect sense, allowing for easy manoeuvring between exhibitions, talks, performances and outdoor sculpture. There was much to discover, and a sense of liveliness throughout. Above all, I shall never forget the engagement of the local people whose enthusiasm added to an air of excitement." - Sophie Goltz, Assistant Professor, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore (DAS 2018) “DAS 2018 gave us a great opportunity not only to learn about South / South East Asian Art but much more to learn how we can engage in our time through art. The manifold conversations, guided tours and lectures challenged and expanded not only the knowledge about art from Asia but also about the Bengal region and its historical and contemporary cultural richness. The educational complexity of DAS gives young people such an important opportunity to learn thinking out of the (academic) box.” - Glenn Lowry, Director, Museum of Modern Art New York (DAS 2018) “The Dhaka Art Summit was a revelation. Sharply insightful exhibitions, expansive and generous conversations and panel discussions, and a deeply satisfying experience. I learned a great deal, made unexpected connections, and enjoyed being with so many artists, curators, and scholars whose collective energy animated the Summit.” - Koyo Kouoh, Founding Artistic Director, RAW Material Company (DAS 2018) “There is so much to share from this stimulating, inspiring, politically engzged, art historically facinating, sensual, joyful and last but not least simply beautiful show that is the Dhaka Art Summit. Bringing together nine tightly curated exhibitions by a group of the most talented curators practicing today, as well as a though provoking series of screenings, conversations, presentations, performances and symposia; not to mention the incredible education programme with some of the most critically practicing artists, artist’s collectives and thinkers, amazing Diana has completed yet another tour de force for which she can only be highly commended for its curatorial, intellectual, historical and contemporary scop, depth of research and unlimited sense of hospitality.” - Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Artist, Raqs Media Collective (DAS 2018) "The Dhaka Art Summit 2018 has been an intense, exhilarating and thought provoking experience. The curated exhibitions at DAS 2018 offer opportunities to rethink global histories of contemporary art while remaining anchored in a cogently and sharply expressed South Asian context. I had many wonderful experiences and exchanges and was able to get a clear sense of the energy and enthusiasm of the Bangladeshi Contemporary Art scene. The production values of the entire show set a very high standard. DAS is emerging as probably the most significant intersection of creative and discursive energies in the region. With DAS, the artistic and creative communities of Bangladesh stake their claim to being the incubators and custodians of a contemporary cultural sensibility that is truly planetary. This initiative’s continued success is crucial for the health of culture in the entire South Asian region." - Beatrix Ruf, Director, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (DAS 2014) "What a memorable experience the Dhaka Art Summit and Samdani Art Foundation organised. An amazing attendance of artists, curators, art professionals and collectors and the challenging and thought provoking panel discussions enabled meetings of people, intensive exchange and an insight not only into how art is integrating in Dhaka and Bangladesh but all of South Asia." - Sebastian Cichocki, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (DAS 2018) “DAS is not only a show, it is a self-learning apparatus, which changes the patterns of understanding, recognition and global dissemination from the South Asia region. DAS is a polyphony of voices, resonating deep in the contemporary art world but also locally, triggering the imagination of diverse audiences and touching upon the most urgent social, political and economic issues of our times. DAS might be defined also as a free academy, conceptual playground and a carnival. DAS is also a story-teller. One can learn a lot just from listening carefully.” - Jitish Kallat, artist and curator of Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014 (DAS 2014) "I leave Dhaka, carrying with me a whole lot of generative ideas, great thoughts and memories.I feel what I witnessed is truly historic and will be discussed as a key transformative catalyst for the entire region in the many years to come. Congratulations to Rajeeb and Nadia Samdani and Diana Campbell Betancourt on this whole-hearted visionary effort." - Philippe Pirotte, Dean of the Staedelschule, Frankfurt (DAS 2018) “For me the Dhaka Art is a welcome alternative to the biennale circuit. Assuming in a discursively responsible way that such initiatives become more and more condensed events, in a global competition for attention, the Dhaka Art Summit, advances the notion of the “summit” which allows for very different, yet all interesting projects and initiatives, to share a venue, in which conceptual diversity is preferred over the constraints of one curatorial premise. Talks, exhibitions, prizes, documentaries, and even a fair of artist initiatives enrich each other in new surprising ways. Maybe the Dhaka Art Summit is not only an interesting answer to the often fatigue perceived in the biennale circuit but also to the global inflation of art fairs.” - Jessica Morgan, The Daskalopoulos Curator, International Art, Tate Modern (DAS 2014) "I heard over and over that Dhaka Art Summit had managed the complicated and sometimes impossible by bringing together artists, thinkers and curators from South Asia, providing a meeting place and a discursive space which is really to be applauded. The entire event was outstandingly well organised and installed. It was really exceptional to have the live encounter with Nikhil Chopra's performance and without doubt it was the presence of works like his, Shilpa Gupta, Naeem Mohaiemen, Rashid Rana and Mithu Sen, among others, who made work specially for the event, that brought a unique aspect to Dhaka Art Summit." - Maria Lind, Critic and Artistic Director, Gwangju Biennale 2016 (DAS 2016) “I almost gave up reading art writing. I have come to reconsider this through the Summit...” - Adam Szymczyk, Artistic Director, Documenta 14 (DAS 2014) "The Summit was a surprisingly personal, low key and highly focused gathering of many amazing individuals from several countries in South Asia. A variety of experiences brought under one roof was what I really appreciated as it exceeded the usual monoforms of a "biennial", "art fair", "conference" etc., offering instead a holistic experience of being with the artists, seeing their work and discussing it on the spot. Unpretentious and intelligently designed in skillful hands of Chief Curator, Diana Campbell, the Summit felt like it was a labour of love and not a dull cultural marketing exercise." - Lucas Huang, The National Gallery of Singapore (DAS 2016) “I thought the Dhaka Art Summit 2016 was a splendid affair of critical clout and great programming. There is literally nothing like it in Asia and I am certain the next one will be an even bigger success.” - Dayanita Singh, Artist, India (DAS 2016) “I have never experienced something as art focused, open and inclusive as I just did at Dhaka Art Summit. The calibre of the conversations was a rare happening in our region.” - Stuart Comer, Chief Curator of Media and Performance, Museum of Modern Art, New York (DAS 2016) “The Dhaka Summit proved to be an invaluable interface with a number of key artists, discourses, and histories that suggest the increasingly urgent voice South Asia has in the current global cultural discourse....We look forward to developing many of these conversations as we deepen our engagement in the region.” - Bunty Chand, Director of Asia Society, India (DAS 2016) “Dhaka Art Summit has set the gold standard for the visual arts in South Asia” - Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, London, UK, On her second trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh (DAS 2016) “The Dhaka Summit has rapidly become an important focus for artists from South Asia and beyond and this year is attracting widespread international attention.” THIRD EDITION DAS 2016 DAS provokes reflections on transnationalism, selfhood and time with invited artists, curators and thinkers who build exhibitions through commissioned research and experience within the region—without being prescriptive. Neither a biennial, symposium nor festival but somewhere in between, the unique format of the Summit transforms the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy into a generative space to reconsider the past and future of art and exchange within South Asia and beyond. DAS 2016 included loans from the Bangladesh National Collection; the Museum Folkwang in Essen; the Pinault Collection and many public and private South Asian collections as well as partnerships with institutions such as the Centre Pompidou; Asia Art Archive and Harvard South Asia Institute, DAS considers South Asia from the view of doing and becoming rather than cartography, occupying the triplet planes of imagination, will and circumstance. EXPLORE SECOND EDITION DAS 2014 The 2nd edition of the Dhaka Art Summit unfolded from February 7 to 9, 2014 at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Marking a strategic shift, the Summit decided to concentrate its focus on South Asia starting from this edition. DAS 2014 showcased a diverse array of programs, including five curatorial exhibitions by both international and Bangladeshi curators, along with 14 solo art projects curated by Diana Campbell Betancourt, the Artistic Director of the Samdani Foundation. These projects celebrated artists from across South Asia. The summit encompassed a citywide public art initiative, performances, the screening of experimental films, speaker panels, and the active participation of 15 Bangladeshi and 17 South Asia-focused galleries. EXPLORE FIRST EDITION DAS 2012 The 1st edition of the Summit was held in collaboration with Shilpakala Academy and Bangladesh National Museum and showcased the works of 249 artists and 19 galleries . The 1st edition of the Summit focused only on the local artists and galleries. The Summit was visited by over 40,000 visitors The Summit also organised talks. EXPLORE Following the fifth edition subtitled Seismic Movements which welcomed nearly 500,000 visitors in nine days in February 2020, its sixth edition is the first edition with a Bangla subtitle; বন্যা/Bonna. DAS 2023 considers the ways in which we inherit and form vocabularies to understand the world around us, and the mistranslation that can ensue when we try to apply these vocabularies to unfamiliar contexts; the same word can migrate from positive to negative connotations and back depending on how and where it travels. Weather and water as shapers of history and culture as well as being metaphors for life in general are viewed in an embodied way through the lens of those who live in Bangladesh, next to the sea and rivers, underneath the storm systems, feeling the wind and rain. DAS 2023 বন্যা / Bonna SIXTH EDITION EXPLORE TEAM

ALL PROJECTS Rehearsing The Witness: The Bhawal Court Case, A Talk By Zuleikha Chaudhari Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Dhaka, 21 April 2017 The Bhawal court case was an extended pre-independence Indian court case that revolved around the identity of a sanyasi (or Hindu religious ascetic), claiming to be the second Kumar of Bhawal (the heir of one of the last large zamindari estates in Dhaka), who was presumed dead a decade earlier. The claim was contested by the British Court of Wards and by the widow of Ramendra Narayan Roy (the second Kumar of Bhawal) Bibhabati Devi. The case was in trial from 1930 – 1946. Over the course of sixteen years, the physical attributes, birthmarks, portraits and testimony were collated as forensic evidence to establish the claimant/sanyasi’s identity as being the Kumar. Hundreds of witnesses, including doctors, photographers, artists, prostitutes, peasants, revenue collectors, tenants, holy men, magistrates, handwriting experts, relatives and passers-‐by were deposed. The case went from the District Court in Dhaka to the High Court of Calcutta to the Privy Council in London, finally ending in 1946 with a victory for the plaintiff, who died a few days after the verdict. Rehearsing the Witness: The Bhawal Court Case uses this trial about a possible impostor to re-examine the enormous archive that the case produced, through performance as a means of problematising the notions of evidence, archive and identity. Both the domains of the law and theatre/acting frame larger questions that pertain to the production of truth and reality, assumptions of stable, consistent and believable identities and the construction of a credible narrative. The project explores the questions of law as performance, the role of performance in law and the performativity of legal truth-production. The talk at the Pathshala South Asian Media Institute described the three-day performance at the Dhaka Art Summit 2018 which drew a relationship between re-enactment, (crime-scene) reconstruction and retrial; the complex tension between forensic evidence, the act of speculation/imagination and truth-finding and truth-making. . Zuleikha Chaudhari is a theatre director and lighting designer. Her current research uses archival documents (texts and photographs) to develop theatrical performances as a way of thinking about the relationship between production of memory and the role of the archive and how this pertains to the retrieval and reliving of an event. The constructed narratives within the works looked at the relationship between personal lived experience and memories and larger historical events and narratives. These works use a combination of reportage, portraiture, documentary and fiction - the editing, re-interpretation and re-positioning of speculative ideas, opinions, beliefs and anecdotes towards the production of new narratives is central to these investigations about the relationship between history and theatre. Her ongoing research considers the structures and codes of performance as well the function and processes of the actor as reality and truth production. It investigates the tension between looking or watching and doing or acting. Her current projects include three court trials – The Bhawal Court Case (1930-46), The Trial of Bahadurshah Zafar (1858) and the India National Army Trials (1945-46) within the framework of law as performance; the role of performance in law and the performativity of legal truth-production. Her works have been shown at performance festivals, galleries and exhibitions in United States, Germany, France, Belgium, Vienna, South Africa, South Korea, China, Japan, The Netherlands, Pakistan and India.

ALL PROJECTS Experimenter Curator's Hub The Samdani Art Foundation supported Bangladeshi artists Munem Wasif, Mohammad Wahiduzzaman and Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty to travel to Kolkata to attend the Experimenter Curator’s Hub in July 2014. The Hub is a platform for exchange of thoughts, views & possibilities of collaborations between the curators, public and private organizations and various institutional frameworks that coexist in the art world. Several of the presenters at ECH were part of the 2014 Dhaka Art Summit jury and speakers programs. Adam Szymczyk was one of the speakers and his first trip to South Asia was his trip to the 2014 Dhaka Art Summit, which he mentioned in his talk.

ALL PROJECTS A BEAST, A GOD, AND A LINE | PARA SITE HONG KONG CURATED BY COSMIN COSTINAS 17 MARCH - 20 MAY 2018 | PARA SITE, HONG KONG Dhaka Art Summit 2018 exhibition, A beast, a god, and a line travelled to Para Site in Hong Kong for its second iteration, featuring many works commissioned by the Samdani Art Foundation as part of exhibition's the initial edition during DAS 2018. This exhibition was organised by the Samdani Art Foundation in collaboration with Para Site, Hong Kong and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Installation image of A beast, a god, and a line at Para Site, Hong Kong. Photo credit: Eddie Lam, Image Art Studio.

ALL PROJECTS COSMOPOLIS #1.5: ENLARGED INTELLIGENCE 2 NOVEMBER 2018 - 6 JANUARY 2019, CHENGDU, CHINA Cosmopolis #1 .5: Enlarged Intelligence , opened November 2 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province in south-west China, presented artworks and programs by almost 60 artists and groups, exploring ecology, technology and the commons, and envisioning how we today may draw on intelligent technologies, as well as on ecological intelligence, to advance social values—rather than leaving capital to largely define the uses of these techniques and knowledge systems. Fostering a speculative approach rooted in conceptual thinking and creative experimentation, the project includes artist residencies, concerts, talks, and educational programs taking place across multiple venues in Chengdu and in nearby Jiajiang County. Cosmopolis #1 .5 was curated by Kathryn Weir, with associate curator Ilaria Conti and curatorial advisor Zhang Hanlu. Samdani Art Foundation was pleased to support Kathryn Weir's research into Bangladesh via her Dhaka Art Summit 2018 fellowship and her engagement with our artist led initiatives forum. Her research resulted in Bangladeshi artists Munem Wasif, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, and Samdani Art Award 2016 winner Rasel Chowdhury's participation in the exhibition Cosmopolis 1.5: Enlarged Intelligence. Find out more about the exhibition here: https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/210447/cosmopolis-1-5-enlarged-intelligence/

ALL PROJECTS Samdani Art Award Exhibition Curated by Anne Barlow The Samdani Art Award 2023 presents new works by twelve emerging Bangladeshi artists who reflect on various social, economic and ecological concerns in the midst of one of the most difficult climatic periods for South Asia. While each project is distinct in its focus and material form, collectively, the artists in the exhibition engage with critical societal issues by questioning mainstream and binary thinking, advocating for change, and imagining spaces of possibility in the future. The ongoing impact of industrialisation and climate change are key topics for Purnima Aktar, Sohorab Rabbey and Habiba Nowrose. Through references to folklore and mythology, Aktar’s work highlights the uncertain future and diminishing biodiversity of the Sundarbans, the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world known as the ‘lungs’ of Bangladesh. Rabbey’s spatial intervention, whose forms are partly inspired by dams and barrages on the Teesta river, acts as a critical commentary on the geopolitical, topographical and ethnocultural transformation of the Bengal Delta region. Reflecting on ancient flood myths that span diverse cultures and religions, and on our current-day emergence from a global pandemic, Nowrose’s installation of photographs and objects seeks to convey a utopian world in which humans might exist in harmony with other beings after a great deluge. Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq and Rakibul Anwar consider how urban and rural environments are affected by construction that errs towards the invasive. Remnants of unfinished bridges in open fields, canals and agricultural land are seen as both symbols of ‘abandoned dreams’ and systemic corruption in Fatiq’s poignant photographs, whereas Anwar’s expansive wall drawings are informed by his observations of seemingly arbitrary urban planning that continues to alter the cityscape of Dhaka, as well as its social and communal spaces. Concerns around human rights, particularly in relation to the disenfranchised, are powerfully expressed in the work of Ashfika Rahman and Faysal Zaman. Rahman’s project resembles the interior of a home in an indigenous Santal community, and questions the responsibility of state security forces in relation to the burning of Santal homes during land ownership disputes. Incorporating extracts from interviews and archival images of victims of ‘enforced disappearance’, Zaman’s haunting installation gives material presence to victims’ own words and those of their loved ones. Through references to such acts of intolerance or brutality against people, and to the damage humans inflict on nature and its ecosystems, the topic of violence becomes a recurring subtext throughout the exhibition. Sumi Anjuman, Rasel Rana and Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin focus on the challenges faced by those with diverse sexual and gender orientation. Through her evocative photographs, Anjuman brings a human dimension to the oppression of non-binary people in Bangladesh, giving voice to their stories, while Rana encapsulates the struggles and hopes of diverse communities in a fantastical landscape in which every being is welcome. Referencing figures including the Bangladeshi artist SM Sultan whose identity was considered to be ‘elusive’, Yasmin similarly advocates for the legitimacy of sexual and gender fluidity and for individuals to be recognized and respected for who they are. Mojahid Musa and Dinar Sultana Putul share an interest in using natural or recycled materials in much of their work. Musa’s experimental and imaginative animal forms made first in clay, and then fused with other materials or ready-made objects, test assumptions around the relative value of such components in everyday life. Putul’s respect for agricultural and more traditional ways of life is borne out in the environment and hand-made objects she creates; at the same time, her work is influenced by historical figures such as engineer and architect Buckminster Fuller and utopian visions of a self-sustaining, egalitarian society. Purnima Aktar আঠারো ভাটির দেশ, A Tale of Eighteen Tides, 2022-2023 Installation Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 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. b. 1997, Narayanganj; lives and works in Dhaka Rakibul Anwar মহানগর, Mohanagar, 2023 Drawings on paper Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 Rakibul Anwar’s life is intertwined with the city of Dhaka where he has been living since childhood. For Anwar, the transformation of Dhaka from a former Mughal outpost to a developing metropolitan centre with its different neighbourhoods, languages, symbols and sounds, is an endless source of inspiration. His work brings together direct observations of daily life with visual imagery derived from his ongoing research into the history of Dhaka through novels, articles and archival sources. These new drawings, one of which resembles the form of a scroll, are made on dictionary pages that have been randomly joined together, creating a kind of subliminal ‘noise’ that for Anwar feels like the sensation of living in Dhaka itself. Capturing moments of daily life, they depict the shifting ‘footprint’ of the city: people, places and objects are out of proportion with one another and viewed from various perspectives from aerial to eye level. This agglomeration of images – including street scenes, bullfights, and architectural elements – present a disorientating and almost surreal ambience. Anwar also considers the loss of Dhaka’s ecological heritage that continues to occur through planning and construction projects that fail to take existing ecosystems into account, leading to a critical imbalance between the built and natural environment. Images of beehives and animals act as signifiers for a loss of biodiversity that results in part from Dhaka’s dying lakes, polluted rivers, and lost gardens. Collectively, these new drawings present a poignant reflection on the complex and ever-changing physical and psychological state of the city. B. 1993, Dhaka; lives and works in Dhaka Rasel Rana একজন বাগানির স্বপ্ন , The Gardener’s Dream 2023 Acrylic on canvas Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 The Gardener’s Dream presents an idyllic scene of a gardener surrounded by various species of plants - a beautifully crafted universe in which all living things co-exist in harmony. The garden acts as a metaphor for a world in which everyone and everything has equal importance and equal rights, in contrast to the discrimination and trauma often faced by those who have diverse genders. This new work follows on from Rana’s Gender Bird series in terms of its lush representation of a figure in a landscape, and a sense of longing for an individual to be accepted for who they are. In The Gardener’s Dream , this also manifests itself through the work’s unique shape, which for Rana, expresses the way in which queer lives are often ‘framed’ by society as being different. Informed by various sources including Voodoo art and symbols, the bright colours of Rickshaw painting and the figure of the TEPA PUTUL (folk doll), Rana’s work presents a multi-layered and deeply personal perspective on issues of identity and an individual’s place in the world. b. 1995, Dhaka; lives and works in Dhaka Sumi Anjuman হাওয়ায় নেওয়া চাঁদ, Winds carry moon , 2021-2022 Interdisciplinary medium Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 Much of Anjuman’s photography engages with individuals or communities who have been oppressed or silenced by mainstream society. Her collaborative approach is guided by ideas of inclusivity and reflects the depth of the relationships she builds over time. Winds carry moon continues her work with those who, due to their gender identity, are frowned upon and considered unlawful in society to the extent that some have received death threats. Her photographs reflect on the restrictions and lack of equal rights that many individuals face in daily life, offering a sensitive insight into their inner psyches, and life journeys that commonly diverge from accepted norms in terms of prevailing societal and religious beliefs. Winds carry moon creates a space of possibility between this reality and a world in which LGBTQIA+ individuals in Bangladesh can concentrate on their love, hopes and dreams, instead of being in a constant state of angst and homophobic isolation, struggling to be perceived as human. Born in a conservative society, Anjuman has faced internal conflicts around being a woman that have helped her connect and empathize with others' oppression and trauma. Anjuman considers her photography practice to be more poetic than documentary in nature, verging on the abstract as a way of creating a non-violent dialogue about contemporary society. b. 1989, Bogura: lives and works in Dhaka and The Hague Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq মরীচিকা, Mirage, 2022-2023 Photographs Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 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. b. 1995 Cumilla; lives and works in Cumilla Sohorab Rabbey Almanac of an eroded land borrowed from our children, 2022-2023 Installation Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 ‘Blocked’ is a form of protest that indigenous and marginalised local people use to rescue their lands, rivers and natural resources from authoritarian corporations. However precarious this resistance might be, their statement is clear and powerful enough to be visible. Inspired by their actions - and reflecting on how the navigability of the rivers from the upper stream to the lower stream in the Bengal delta region has been controlled, politicised, redistributed and transformed in the last decades - Sohorab addresses the aftermaths of human-led catastrophes. Alongside, he engages with the everyday practices of the people in the region in terms of their respect for natural ecosystems and their resistance towards the ‘patchy Anthropocene’. Almanac of an eroded land borrowed from our children continues Sohorab’s interest in channelling the geopolitical, topographical and ethnocultural transformation of the river delta region of South Asia. In this new installation, fragmented ‘edifices’ traced from the blueprint of dams and barrages built on the ‘Teesta’ river conjure up an abandoned eroded site. Hand loomed textiles made using non-toxic natural dye processes with domestic ingredients, techniques learned from local people, create a muted yet strong atmospheric spatial intervention. Injecting the idea of ‘blocked’ in a prudent sculptural and material play, Sohorab draws attention to the urgency of respecting indigenous knowledge and natural resources, beyond human possibilities and interspecies entanglements. b.1994 Dhaka, lives and works in London Habiba Nowrose Salvation , 2023 Photography Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 In Salvation, Habiba Nowrose reflects on ancient flood myths that span diverse cultures and religions as a way of critically examining the times we live in today. In Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu reincarnated as a fish to warn King Manu of a great deluge. The fish instructed Manu to build a boat and take with him every living creature that ever existed on Earth, in a male and female pair. When the flood came, the fish grew into a giant one and asked Manu to tie the boat to its horn, and the fish navigated the flood, taking them to safe land. Thus the world was saved from total destruction. Similarly, according to Abrahamic religious texts, Prophet Noah received a warning from God about a great flood that would be a punishment for the wickedness of humanity. Eventually, the great deluge came and washed away the wicked, leaving only the righteous to repopulate the Earth. In our current era, often referred to as the Anthropocene, Nowrose questions how humans have become the single most destructive species, causing an existential threat to the earth, and whether another deluge is needed in order to salvage the world. Habiba Nowrose explores human relationships and gender identities through photography. She makes photographic portraits that introduce different interpretations and perspectives on topics such as the life of HIV positive patients or mourning the death of a loved one. Nowrose takes careful mental note of objects, colours, patterns and locations that attract her on a repeated basis, which she then re-introduces in her carefully constructed compositions. These elements play a fundamental role in her interactive and psychologically poignant image-making process. b. 1989 in Sirajganj, lives and works in Dhaka 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 Assimilated Musing VI is a juxtaposition of the natural and manmade. A meticulous process of clay modelling is combined by Mojahid Musa with found materials to make extraordinary creatures that are ambiguous in their form. Merging traditional motifs through the techniques of assemblage, they fuse such disparate elements as jewellery, twigs, bird feathers and various types of metal. These ‘composites’ intend to suggest that an earth consisting of diverse naturally occurring substances exists. Musa’s artistic language draws on the enormously rich history of clay culture, as well as Bangladeshi traditional motifs and folk art, but it does so in a way that actively connects with contemporary issues. For Musa, these sculptures of animal forms play with notions of ‘civilized’ and ‘uncivilized’; they also implicitly critique the position of the domestic animal as an industrial by-product of our time. Overall, his work aims to challenge assumptions about what we require, how we utilize it, and how we value it in society – looking critically at how we assess these shifting factors, and how the decisions we then make affect our daily lives. As a way of interrogating these questions, Musa draws on his own experience of his surroundings, as well as on his interest in how, more broadly, human social behaviour relates to its environment. He often speaks about a ‘robotic’ cosmopolitan and materialistic lifestyle, where people yearn to return to their roots, but how, in the rush of life, they miss out on the innocence of nature. b. 1990, Narshingdi; lives and works in Dhaka Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin In association with Md.Solayman, Md. Dulal & Jagannath Das ঠাউর, Gaze , 2022-2023 Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 In Gaze , Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin presents an installation of paintings, several of which were created in collaboration with cinema and rickshaw painters. In society, Gaze is established on the basis of a 'higher power key'. Who do we make a hero, what will the hero look like? Have we thought about the politics of power behind the ‘gaze’ of all these things? Cinema banner painting is one of the mediums of popular culture in Bengal. Gaze is an attempt to deconstruct the male protagonists seen in movie banners or rickshaw paintings. Cinema banner artist Md. Dulal, rickshaw painter Md. Solaiman and Jagannath Das worked with her on this series. Gaze continues Yasmin’s interest in SM Sultan, a key figure in modern Bangladeshi art, and more specifically, in how his identity has been perceived primarily through the heteronormative gaze. While many books and films have focused on his life, SM Sultan nonetheless remains an intriguing figure, particularly as he spent many years living as a recluse. For Yasmin, Sultan’s way of thinking was ahead of his time. Sultan used to wear saree often, and there are many documentary photographs and movies that show him in shirt/pant/lungi at a young age. When his art began to be appreciated in the West, and his paintings exhibited, photographers in Bangladesh showed him in suits/coats/pants. Has a picture of SM Sultan wearing a saree ever been seen in this country? Would it have been insulting to do so, and is it still too much to question the politics of 'respect' and 'insult' in our way of thinking? We have seen the convergent gaze of society. Are we not yet ready to accept the divergent gaze? Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin works across disciplines from photography, collage and installation to film and animation. She often collaborates with people from communities of different gender and sexual identities and has established a safe space gallery for artists who work with queer issues. b.1990, Dhaka; lives and works in Dhaka Dinar Sultana Putul A space without a ship , 2023 Mixed media Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 Putul adopts an almost archival, quasi-scientific method of categorizing and documenting various hues, forms, textures, surfaces, as well as materials such as clay, coal, graphite, pulp made from newspapers (to demolish written language and establish visual language), and a slew of other discarded ephemera found in nature - all in pursuit of understanding its materiality. Putul’s respect for traditional ways of life is borne out in the hand-made objects she creates, and many of these elements are like fossils to her. At the same time, she is influenced by historical figures such as the engineer and architect Buckminster Fuller and utopian visions of a self-sustaining, egalitarian society. These new works draw on ideas expressed in Fuller’s book Grunch of Giants and the formal characteristics of cartographer and architect Bernard J. S. Cahill’s Butterfly map, which she then merges with her own artistic language and world view. Her interest in cosmology and imaginative cartography is inherently connected with pressing concerns around income and resource inequality. A space without a ship alludes to Fuller’s concept of ‘Spaceship Earth’, a phrase Fuller used to describe the entire planet. In this case however, the title implies that our trajectory is adrift, as we forge ahead without adequate care for the planet itself or humanity. Her work advocates, as Fuller did, for a collective rebalancing, or global cooperation around human intelligence and the earth’s resources, in a way that allows for an ‘integrated regenerative system’. b. 1988, Dhaka; lives and works in Dhaka Ashfika Rahman Death of A Home , 2023 Installation Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 The eviction of ethnic minorities in Bangladesh is highlighted as a major concern in Ashfika Rahman’s Death of a Home , as the authorities find different excuses to uproot communities from the lands they have been living in for centuries. Created in dialogue with Santals (l ower caste Hindu communities), this installation brings to mind the interior of a lost home. A boot and ethnic poetry carved on the traditional Sil Batta (an age-old home appliance collected from a Santal village) lies on the ground, while protest songs from the community play on an archival radio that once aired protest songs for the Bengali nation during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The rhythm of the space questions the freedom of such ethnic groups within Bangladesh after half a century of liberation. Rahman’s practice explores and experiments with photography, using media ranging from historical techniques from 19th century printmaking to documentary approaches and contemporary media. Photography is the predominant medium that she uses to express her views on complex systemic social issues such as violence, rape, and religious extremism – often overlooked by the administrative machinery of the state. In her practice, she creates a conceptual timeline of the stereotypes of victims, repeated across history, notably with regard to minority communities in Bangladesh. b. 1988, Dhaka; lives and works in Dhaka Faysal Zaman (অ )পূর্ণ , (un)filled , 2021-2023 and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2023 (অ )পূর্ণ, (un)filled , brings together a distinctive materialistic procession that evokes the sense of limitlessness, conveyed through cyberspace-sourced archives, of the sufferers of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh. In parallel, extracts of re-collected interviews with their loved ones outline their endless condition of agony and uncertainty. At times, the trajectory disturbingly blinks yet invites the onlookers to consider the tale of 'Enforced Disappearances' in Bangladesh from spiritual, material and emotive perspectives. Zaman’s artistic practice investigates the psychical compass of socio-political currency, which is often rooted in implied experiences. At the same time, his practice confronts and criticizes the socio-political structures rather than simply demonstrating or elucidating them. Thus, his artistic landscape synthesizes a sense of abstractness and translucent reality conveyed by a transdisciplinary manner that encircles research-led archival components, moving snippets, digital and found imagery along with individual photographs that are often scorched, burned, scratched, and re-photographed. b. 1996 Madaripur; lives and works in The Netherlands

ALL PROJECTS Art Mediation Programme 2023 Dhaka Art Summit The 2023 Art Mediation Programme, led by Ruxmini Reckvana Q Choudhury and assisted by Swilin Haque, was a remarkable success. Artist, art educator, and art mediator Tarana Halim played a pivotal role in managing the programme, which brought together an impressive team of 123 skilled art mediators. With an audience exceeding half a million over the course of just nine days, the mediators expertly guided visitors through a vibrant and inclusive Dhaka Art Summit experience. Their efforts ensured that the diverse range of activities offered at the summit was accessible, engaging, and enriching for all attendees.

ALL PROJECTS My Oma 8 December 2023 — 1 September 2024, Kunstinstituut Melly, Netherlands Sheelasha Rajdhandhari's remarkable piece, 'My great-great-grandmother’s shawl,' from the SAF collection was featured at Kunstinstituut Melly, Netherlands, as part of the 'My Oma' exhibition. 'My Oma' was curated by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Rosa de Graaf, Jessy Koeiman, Julija Mockutė, and Vivian Ziherl. Its key producers were Shana Lewis, Pilar Mata Dupont, and Wendy van Slagmaat-Bos. Advisors to the research and planning process of "My Oma" include our Artistic Director, Diana Campbell, alongside Edward Gillman, Sun A Moon, and Manuela Moscoso. In the performative artwork titled 'My great-great-grandmother’s shawl,' Kathmandu-based artist Sheelasha Rajbhandari intricately weaves together the threads of change embedded in fabric and time. The three sets of photographs depict generations of women in the artist’s maternal family, tracing the evolving clothing preferences that mirror broader political and economic transformations within Nepal. The first image features the artist's great-great-grandmother, Purna Kumari Vaidhya, adorned in a Dambar Kumari Shawl, a 19th-century textile composed of a block-printed fabric sandwiched between fine muslin. The second and third portraits depict her grandmother, Chiniya Devi Bijukchhe, and the artist herself, both framed in the same posture and draped in a shawl. However, these two shawls are replicated by the artist, evident by the clothing tags. This visual narrative explores the growing influence of capitalism and ready-made items, prompting an interrogation on notions of authenticity and mimicry in the production of culturally significant items.

ALL PROJECTS Stepping Softly on the Earth Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Gidree Bawlee and Kamruzzaman Shadhin’s collaborative project ‘Kaal’ explored how we perceive time, our place within its tapestry, and how these rhythms manifest in our narratives and practices. Informed by rituals, beliefs, and mythologies that persist across generations, the community-engaged project ‘Kaal’ is a study of our surroundings where past and present intertwine, and a dialogue between our shared history and the unfolding present. It’s a journey through time’s knotted and unraveled threads, seeking the enduring connections that bind us all. The first iteration of ‘Kaal’ is ‘Pala,’ showcasing at the Stepping Softly on the Earth exhibition curated by Irene Aristizábal and Kinnari Saraiya. Pala seven intricately woven jute figures echoing the ‘Bishahari Pala’ performance, which blurs the lines between human and non-human realities. Woven by the village community in a collaborative spirit, the work captures the collective essence of participation and shared narratives. This exhibition is supported by Pro Helvetia, Jhaveri Contemporary, and Samdani Art Foundation. Stepping Softly on the Earth evolved from Baltic’s Research and Development project Cosmovisions on Land and Entangled Futures . With additional support from the British Council through an International Collaboration Project Grant towards the research and development project titled Cosmovisions on Land and Entangled Futures.

Partners The Samdani Art Foundation is proud to have partnered with the following organisations and institutions on its various initiatives.

ALL PROJECTS Independence Movements Curated by Diana Campbell The shared energy fueling movements and building constellations of solidarities across time and diverse geographies defies shallow geopolitical definitions that carve up the world. Artists played a major role in spreading the deep yearning for independence in what is now Bangladesh, as well as elsewhere in the global majority world. Creative individuals with conviction were willing to stake their position and shift the course of history by galvanising people around their work which became the images, words, and songs to rally resistance and transform mere individuals into a collective force to be reckoned with. The artists in this movement chronicle the spirit of resistance and struggle for freedom, shifting from euphoria to disillusionment and back again. Independence is a spirit that needs to be kept alive and moved and nurtured across generations. Antonio Dias b. 1944, Campina Grande, Paraíba; d. 2018, Rio de Janeiro Trama , 1968/1977 Portfolio with 10 woodcuts on hand-made Nepali paper. Courtesy of Alexandre Roesler Do It Yourself: Freedom Territory, 1968/2020 adhesive strip and lettering on floor Courtesy of Collection Daros-Latinamerica and the Estate of Antonio Dias The Illustration of Art/Tool & Work , 1977 Red clay on hand-made Nepalese paper Courtesy of Geyze Diniz Collection Untitled , 1981 Handmade paper, cellulose with clay, iron oxide and soot. Courtesy of Samdani Art Foundation Demarcando Terretorios , 1982 Iron oxide, graphite, metalic pigments on Nepalese paper Working in the Furnace, 1986 Mixed media on nepalese paper The Last Houses of the man , 1987 Iron oxide and metalic pigment on Nepalese paper. Courtesy of Galeria Nara Roesler Research supported by Instituto InclusArtiz Antonio Dias’s many transnational experiences coloured his conceptual art practice. Supported by a Brazilian patron, he travelled to Nepal in 1976 ‘to buy paper for an edition.’ He soon discovered that the kind of paper he imagined could not be purchased in a store. Over an intense period of five months in 1976–77, living near the Tibetan border with Nepali artisans, Dias adapted their paper-making process by mixing in plant fibres and materials such as tea, earth, ash and curry. This presentation includes the installation Do it Yourself: Freedom Territory, whose words and motifs appear in Trama – the edition that brought him to Nepal. The Illustration of Art/Tool & Work, also from 1977, marks a shift in his practice. His process became less about the ‘illustration of art’ (a series from 1971–1978) and more about the physicality and the making of art. This work is a rare example where Dias and his Nepali collaborator’s hands both appear in the work, depicted as equals surrounded by the red Nepali clay they coexisted on. Dias returned to these papers to create works for at least a decade, layering further life experience into these remarkable collaborative surfaces that carry traces of experimentation, invention, and reinvention. Dias was one of the leading figures of 20th-century Brazilian art, working across various media to question the meaning of art and its systems. He left Brazil in 1966 and arrived in Paris in time to participate in the May 1968 protests. Because of his political involvement he was forced to move again; he settled in Milan, where he became the only Latin American member of the Arte Povera movement, and spent his career working across Brazil, Italy, and Germany. Bouchra Khalili b. 1975, Casablanca; lives and works in Berlin and Oslo The Constellations, Fig. 2, Fig. 4, Fig. 6, Fig. 8 , 2011 Four individual silkscreen prints Courtesy of the artist and mor Charpentier. Presented with support from ifa | Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Bouchra Khalili translates the illegal transnational journeys of individuals into utopian midnight-blue maps, where solidarities between people make visible the waiting, setbacks, force, and compromise found in the condition of statelessness. In her words: ‘constellations are by essence reference points located in spaces where landmarks do not exist: the sky and the sea. As maps, they were used for centuries by sailors looking upward to locate themselves below… Constellations are also visual translations of narratives: many of them are based on mythology. Translating these forced illegal journeys into constellations of stars also aims to challenge normative geography in favour of a ‘human geography’” – based on micro-narratives and singular lives. The limits between the sky and the sea blur, eventually suggesting an alternative form of orientation: the landmarks are [no longer] boundaries as established by nation-states, but the path of singular lives, from where the world can be seen. As alternative maps of the world, The Constellations suggests a counter-geography, of singular gestures of resistance against arbitrary boundaries.” Working with film, video, installation, photography, and prints, Khalili’s practice articulates language, subjectivity, orality, and geographical explorations. With her work, Khalili investigates strategies and discourses of resistance as elaborated, developed, and narrated by individuals – often members of political minorities. Kapwani Kiwanga b. 1978, Hamilton, Canada; lives and works in Paris The Secretary’s Suite , 2016 Mixed Media Installation, UN Photo Courtesy Teddy Chen Courtesy of the artist and Tanja Wagner. Presented with support from the Canada Council for the Arts The Secretary’s Suite is an installation that investigates the complexities of gift economies. Presented within a viewing environment inspired by the 1961 office of the United Nations Secretary-General, Kapwani Kiwanga’s single-channel video examines the history and tradition of gifted items within the United Nations’ art collection. Countries that are members of the UN, including Bangladesh, often donate works of art and objects of cultural value which go on display in public spaces, the Secretary General’s office, or are stored away from private view. This work raises questions about how gifts can impact power dynamics in relationships and with differing cultural significance across the course of history. Kiwanga’s work traces the pervasive impact of power asymmetries by placing historical narratives in dialogue with contemporary realities, the archive, and tomorrow’s possibilities. Her work is research-driven, instigated by marginalised or forgotten histories, and articulated across a range of materials and media including sculpture, installation, photography, video, and performance. Maryam Jafri b. 1972, Karachi; lives and works in Copenhagen and New York Independence Day 1934–1975, 2009–ongoing Sixty+ black and white archival inkjet prints Courtesy of the artist Maryam Jafri’s Independence Day 1934–1975 features over 60 archival photos culled from more than 30 archives of the first Independence Day ceremonies of various Asian, Middle Eastern, and African nations. The swearing-in of a new leadership, the signing of relevant documents, the VIP parade, the stadium salute, the first address to the new nation – all are supervised and orchestrated by the departing colonial power. The photographic material is strikingly similar despite disparate geographical and temporal origins, revealing a political model exported from Europe and in the process of being cloned throughout the world. Although a great deal of research has been done on both the colonial and the postcolonial eras, this project aims to introduce a third, surprisingly neglected element into the debate – that 24-hour twilight period in between, when a territory transforms into a nation-state. Jafri works with video, sculpture, photography, and performance, which act as a support for her research-based, conceptual practice. Her works address and question the cultural and visual representations of history, politics, and economics, such as the politics of food production and consumption, the highly coded performance rituals of nascent nation-states, and cultural memory and copyright law. Murtaja Baseer b. 1932, Dacca; Lives and works in Dhaka Untitled (Dinosaur Drawings) , 1971/2020 Archival Newspapers and Mural by young artists Courtesy of the artist How does a living artist share his historically important work with his people when the person keeping it for decades is not willing to sharea it publicly in exhibitions or publications? Murtaja Baseer created a powerful series of drawings between 1971 and 1972 in Dhaka and in Paris, depicting the Pakistani military as prehistoric figures towering with physical might over Bengali people. The work violently alludes to the wartime atrocities of famine and rape as well as the colonial efforts to subjugate the Bengali language. The magazine ‘The Express’ where the particular work was edited by Zahir Raihan. Zahir Raihan was a writer, novelist and filmmaker, most notable for his documentary ‘Genocide’ on the killing of citizens by the Pakistani Army on 14 December 1971. Baseer first began these dinosaur drawings for mass dissemination in East Pakistani newspapers. Now 88 years old, the artist is working with archival material and a younger generation of artists to reimagine this series of work as a mural for all to see at the entrance of DAS, emblazoning it in public memory. Murtaja Baseer is known for his ‘abstract-realist’ paintings reflecting his daily experience of Bengal. In 1967, he started ‘Wall’ series, his first step towards abstraction, which depicted the entropy and layers of textures and colours on the walls of old Dhaka, a reflection on the society under the dictatorship of Ayub Khan (1958–1969). He actively participated in the Language Movement of 1952 and pre-liberation war demonstrations. He was sent to jail throughout the East Pakistani period for his leftist political views and later left for Paris. He demonstrated his solidarity with the Liberation Movement through his work by changing the spelling of his name from Murtaza Bashir to Murtaja Baseer, adjusting the letters to suit the Bengali language. Baseer is also a writer, poet, numismatist, and acted as an academic at the University of Chittagong until 1998. Pratchaya Phinthong b. 1974, Ubon Ratchathani; lives and works in Bangkok Waiting for Hilsa , 2019 Photographs, Book, Election Ink, Gill Net Commissioned and Produced by Samdani Art Foundation for DAS 2020. Courtesy of the artist, Samdani Art Foundation, BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY, and gb agency. Produced with additional support from BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY Installation activated by a discussion at 2pm on 8 February Stories of the Hilsa fish and its migration across salty and sweet waters have been inscribed in South Asian culture for centuries as they historically swam from the Bay of Bengal up the Padma river and into the Ganges. In 1975 the Farakka Barrage (dam) was completed on the Indian side of the Bangladesh–India border, disrupting this migration. Pratchaya Phinthong draws a mental map of this cross-border conflictual reality, combining photos taken at the Farakka Barrage, reconstructed images, books, and objects – taking into consideration geopolitics, science, spirituality, and human relationships. Using Bangladesh’s ‘national fish,’ the artist metaphorically examines nation-state powers, but also presents to us an example of water as a source of life and the ability of sensations such as taste to transcend ideas relating to national identity. Phinthong creates situations without predetermined forms that rely on an element of viewer participation with the aim of creating a shared experience. He addresses financial fluctuations, media alarmism, and the global labour market, commonly employing them as metaphors for human behaviour. Interested in creating dialogue, he often juxtaposes different social, economic, or geographical systems. Rashid Talukder b. 1939, Pargana; d. 2011, Dhaka. Arms drill by women members of the Chatro Union (students union), 1st March, 1971, 1971/2020 . Photograph, Inkjet Print Outraged artists hold placards bearing the Bangla letters Sha Dhi Na Ta (independence) protesting the postponement of the opening of the National Assembly by President Yahya Khan, Dhaka, 1st March, 1971, 1971/2020, Photograph, Inkjet Print A sea of people move towards Ramna Racecourse, now Suhrawardy Udyan, to attend the historic speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dhaka, 7th March, 1971, 1971/2020 Photograph, Inkjet Print. Courtesy of Drik Picture Gallery Fed up with being oppressed linguistically, economically, and culturally under the rule of West Pakistan (1947–1971), masses of people in what is now Bangladesh rallied in support of an independent sovereign country. People coming from all walks of life engaged in protests finally leading to the liberation war. This bloody war was catalysed when West Pakistan refused to hand over power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971, despite his having received the majority of the democratic votes in the general election of Pakistan. Rashid Talukder dedicated himself to capturing the mass revolution of the East Pakistani people and their fight to maintain freedom as a newly independent nation. His images of empowered female activists, artists (including Murtaja Baseer whose drawings of resistance and independence are installed near this work) and students who participated in the making of Bangladesh greet visitors at the entrance of DAS, grounding us in the history of public assembly in Bangladesh that makes the Summit possible. Rashid Talukder was a photojournalist whose images represent a significant contribution to the collective memory of Bangladesh. Among many other defining events in the history of the nation, he documented the struggles of East Pakistan in the 1960s that led to the liberation war and the formation of Bangladesh. His photographs immortalise mass uprisings, resistance movements, and the participants, of whom many were killed by the Pakistani army. Talukder also photographed artists, highlighting their role in the liberation. As a photojournalist, he worked at the Daily Sangbad and The Daily Ittefaq successively, reaching wide audiences. Dedicated to expanding the field of photojournalism in Bangladesh, he founded the Bangladesh Photo Journalists’ Association in 1972. S. M. Sultan b. 1923, Narail; d. 1994, Jessore First Plantation sketch , c. 1976 Ink on brown paper Courtesy of the collection of Farooq Sobhan While South Asian art history describes him as a landscape painter, S.M. Sultan is remembered in Bangladesh for his energetic paintings of strong farmers made after 1975. These are primarily large-scale paintings made with natural pigments on unprimed jute canvases, celebrating the strength of Bengali peasants, both male and female, in their struggle against colonial and ecological disasters. Famine had been plaguing the country across generations from the era of the British Raj until just the year before Sultan first painted these icons of physical might. In this context, his depiction of the weak and downtrodden as invincible forces can be seen as subversive. In this sketch for the First Plantation, Sultan created a mythical environment where a larger-than-life figure demonstrates power, yet maintains a humble and protective gesture cherishing a single seed, a metaphor for all of humanity. The nude angels in the background speak to the plurality and liberalism found within the Bangladeshi art community who recognizes this work as one of the country’s most iconic contributions to Bangladeshi art history. After travelling extensively as a celebrated artist both internationally and within South Asia, Sultan retreated from urban life, moving to his home village of Narail, where he founded the Shishu Shwarga art school. His devotion to rural art education has had a lasting legacy, inspiring many initiatives to promote personal growth outside of urban centres through art. Sultan’s activities highlight the importance of rural culture in the collective identity of Bangladesh. Tuan Andrew Nguyen b. 1976, Sai Gon; lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City Solidarities Between the Reincarnated , 2019 Digital pigment print on Hahnemuhle paper and graphite on paper, two-channel video Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery Solidarities Between the Reincarnated interrogates the place of the archive document in a personal re-appropriation of history at the crossroads between echoes that persist amidst institutional amnesia and gaps in transmission within collective memory. At its core, this project considers the movement of people through (post-)colonial violence and the obscuring of its legacy in the context of France’s use of colonial troops in global and colonial conflicts and of communities born from it. Tuan Andrew Nguyen offers imagination and creation as ways in which to connect the gaps and fulfil a desire for connection through imagined lines of solidarity whose absence in the historical canon are brought to clash against expanded possibilities for the means by which we can remember. Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s practice explores strategies of political resistance enacted through counter-memory and post-memory. Extracting and re-working narratives via history and supernaturalisms is an essential part of Nguyen’s video works and sculptures where fact and fiction are both held accountable. He initiated The Propeller Group (f. 2006), a platform for collectivity that situates themselves between an art collective and an advertising company. Dr. Zahia Rahmani b. 1962, Les Attouchs; lives and works in Paris and Heilles Seismography of Struggles – Towards a Global History of Critical and Cultural Journals , 2017 Video and sound installation, 59 min Courtesy of INHA, Paris Seismography of Struggle is an inventory of non-European critical and cultural journals, including those from the African, Indian, Caribbean, Asian, and South American diaspora, produced in the wake of the revolutionary movements of the end of the 18th century up to the watershed year of 1989. The sound and visual work included here reflects populations who have experienced colonialism, practices of slavery, Apartheid, and genocide. The struggle against slavery is at the root of many critical and cultural journals. Colonialism impacted the social and cultural cohesion of a number of communities and was also fought against in both writing and gesture by constantly renewing the modalities of political action. The oldest material evidence of this eminently modern exercise is L’Abeille Haytienne, a critical journal that was founded on the island of Haiti in 1817. The journal expresses the constant desire for emancipation. Christopher Columbus landed in Haiti in December 1492 and named it Hispaniola. The island later became a French territory and was renamed Dominica and, over time, more than 400,000 slaves live there and were subjected to France’s ferocious rule. C.L.R. James noted that, in 1789, this territory alone accounted for more than two-thirds of French foreign trade. In 1804, the revolt of subjugated populations gave rise to the birth of a small independent state of Haiti. Even though this cause was won, the struggles continued. For over two centuries, print media has been a space that has accommodated varied experiences. Born out of a sense of urgency in response to colonialism, journals have aligned with a critical, political, aesthetic, poetic, and literary ambitions and helped sustain graphical and scriptural creativity. They have appeared with regularity in the struggles that women and men have waged for their emancipation. Consisting of formal singularities and political objectives that support human communities and their aspirations, the journal, this fragile object, often pulled together difficult material that was motivated by noble causes and the determination of committed authors. The journal reveals a rare aesthetic power. In this all-digital era, we must re-establish and qualify its formal, aesthetic, and political function on a global scale. Zahia Rahmani is one of France’s leading art historians and writers of fiction, memoirs, and cultural criticism. Rahmani curated Made in Algeria, genealogy of a territory (2016), dedicated to the role of cartography in the colonial expansion. Rahmani founded the Global Art Prospective (f. 2015), a collective of young researchers and actors within the art scene who are specialists in non-European territorial and cultural spaces.