Dhaka Art Summit 2023 highlights corruption, environmental concerns
03 Feb 2023 ( Newagebd.com )
Emerging Bangladeshi artists have addressed corruption, social, environmental concerns and others in the sixth Dhaka Art Summit under way at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
The theme of the biennale art summit, which began on Friday, is Bonna.
More than 160 well-known artists from both home and abroad are participating in the exhibition, which comprises different segments curated by Diana Campbell, Akansha Rastogi, Anne Barlow, Bishwajit Goswami, Sean Anderson, Ruxmini Reckvana Q Choudhury, Swilin Haque and others.
The Samdani Art Award 2023 segment, curated by Anne Barlow, is featuring 12 emerging Bangladeshi artists.
Faysal Zaman’s work titled (un)filled addresses enforced disappearances in Bangladesh; Rakibul Anwar’s work titled Mohanagar depicts the loss of Dhaka’s ecological heritage due to poorly planned construction projects; Purnima Aktar in her work titled A Tale of Eighteen Tides gives viewers a glimpse into the Sunderbans’s ecosystem, which is under threat due to climate change and environmental pollution; Ashfika Rahman’s work titled Death of A Home portrays the eviction of Santals from their ancestral land at Gobindaganj on November 6, 2016; Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq’s work titled Mirage features a series of photographs that attempt to highlight the corruption that lies behind many construction projects in Bangladesh; Sumi Anjuman, Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin and Rasel Rana have focused on the challenges faced by those with diverse sexual and gender orientation.
Besides, works by Sohorab Rabbey, Mojahid Musa, Dinar Sultana Putul and Habiba Nowrose have been displayed in the segment.
Artists have displayed artworks addressing climate change, gender relations, understanding of different generations and lifestyles of diverse communities and others in the art summit.
Joydeb Roaja’s work titled Submerged Dream-8 portrays the plight of the people who were evicted due to the construction of a dam by the then government of Pakistan on the River Karnaphuli at Kaptai in 1962 as part of the Karnaphuli Hydroelectric Power Station. After the dam was constructed, 655 square kilometers of area was flooded and approximately 100,000 people were evicted from their ancestral land, a large majority of whom were from Chakma community.
Antora Mehrukh Azad’s oil painting titled Ground Zero reveals how cities are gradually taking over nature.
Bangladeshi artist Shawon Akand has displayed a hand-woven installation titled Slow Friend, Be Slow comprising jamdani sarees containing colourful turtles of different sizes and sculptures of turtles. The work questions cultural norms.
Indian artist Amit Dutta has displayed a video animation titled Mother, Who Will Wave Now? It depicts India’s art history.
Mauroff Jameel and Hamsha Hussain have displayed photographs showing mosques and compounds that have been constructed using coral stone in Maldivian atolls and islands.
German artist Michael John Whelan has displayed analogue photographs that explore light pollution.
Besides, Dhaka Art Summit 2023 is featuring artists, namely Sumaiya Vali, Antony Gromley, Vinodbihari Mukherjee, Bhasha Chakraborty, Chitraprasad, Daniel Boyd, Damasus Hacha, Ganesh Paini, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Habik Chuhen, Jamal Ahmed, Joydeb Roaja, Jani Rusika, Kamruzzaman Swadhan, Lala Rukh, Lapdiang Saiyem, Marina Perez Simao, Nabil Ahmed, Nazmun Nahar Kaya, Paul Taburet, Rupali Gupta, Prasad Shetty, Purnima Akhtar, Rafiqun Nabi, Safiuddin Ahmed, Sahej Rahal, Tanya Goyal, Veronica Hapchenko, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Rizvi Hasan, Ganesh Pine and others.
The inaugural ceremony of the nine-day Dhaka Art Summit 2023 was held at the auditorium of National Art Gallery on Friday.
Prime minister’s private sector and investment adviser Salman F Rahman inaugurated the art summit. State minister for cultural affairs KM Khalid, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy director general Liaquat Ali Lucky, director of Dhaka Art Summit and president of Samdani Art Foundation Nadia Samdani, trustee of Dhaka Art Summit and Samdani Art Foundation Rajeeb Samdani and managing director and the CEO of Golden Harvest Agro Industries Limited Mohammad Shaker Shamim were present at the programme.
Dhaka Art Summit 2023, organised by Samdani Art Foundation, will end on February 11.
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