The second edition of Dhaka Art Summit has been held between February 7 and 9 with focus on the South Asian region and highlighted the vibrant contemporary art scene. It has featured five exhibitions curated by local and international curators, 14 solo art projects, a city-wide public art project by internationally acclaimed Raqs Media Collective, screenings of experimental films, performances, and presentations by 33 local and international galleries including over 250 artists from across the South Asian Region. Several collateral exhibitions have taken place around the city during the Dhaka Art Summit. It is one of the largest platforms for South Asian art. It’s an initiative of the Samdani Art Foundation in collaboration with Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy implemented in partnership with Airtel Bangladesh and Golden Harvest Group, the event presented over 250 artists from the region aiming to support the development of South Asian art, bring museum-quality exhibitions to Bangladesh and promote international artistic exchange.
With a view to creating a platform for the development of artists, art galleries and art institutions in Bangladesh, and creating awareness about Bangladesh art internationally Dhaka hosted the first edition of Dhaka Art Summit in 2012 at Shilpakala Academy and its duration was from 12–15 April. It was held in collaboration with Shilpakala Academy and Bangladesh National Museum.. The first edition showcased the works of 249 artists and 19 galleries with focus of only on the local artists and galleries. This four- day event was visited by over 50,000 people including artists, collectors, art enthusiasts and the general public from across Bangladesh, as well as several international curators, collectors, museums, galleries, auction houses, artists, art critics and international press from all over the world. Samdani Art Foundation also awarded the Samdani Artist Development Award to Khaled Hasan and Samdani Young Talent Award to Musrat Reazi at the Closing ceremony of Dhaka Art Summit. Several talk sessions were held during the Summit. The sessions focused on the importance of sustaining independent art spaces in the development of Bangladeshi art, the role of private collectors and foundations in the absence of infrastructure and support for the arts from the government, the importance of art criticism and a high quality of writing and discourse around art.
The summit has presented works of artists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Noted internationally acclaimed artists Jitish Kallat, Runa Islam, Rana Begum, Shilpa Gupta, Shahzia Sikander, Rashid Rana, Nikhil Chopra, Rathin Barman, Tsherin Sherpa and others have presented their projects. A range of group exhibitions included— Liberty (title of the exhibition), Bangladeshi modern and contemporary art, curated by Md. Muniruzzaman; emerging Bangladeshi contemporary art curated by Deepak Ananth; Pakistani contemporary art curated by Ambereen Karamat; emerging Indian Art curated by Veeranganakumari Solanki; LifeBlood (title of the exhibition), Bangladeshi Photography, curated by Rosa Maria Falvo.
A number of recognised critics, thinkers participated in a series of talks on institutional collecting and support for art from South Asia including: Richard Blurton (Head of South Asian Section of the British Museum’s Asia Department), Aurélien Lemonier (Curator, Centre Pompidou), Sandhini Poddar (Adjunct Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Jessica Morgan (The Daskalopoulos Curator, International Art, Tate Modern) and Dr Ziba Ardalan (Director/Curator, Parasol Unit). Further international curators: Beatrice Ruf (Director, Kunsthalle Zurich), Lauren Cornell (Curator 2015 Triennial, New Museum, New York) and Milovan Farronato (Director, Fiorucci Art Trust) will lead a panel on the theme of ‘curatorial innovation’.
This year, the Samdani Art Foundation has collaborated with the Delfina Foundation of UK to award an outstanding young Bangladeshi artist the opportunity to attend a three-month residency at the Delfina Foundation in London as part of the bi-annual Samdani Art Award.
A ground-breaking public art initiative created by New-Delhi based Raqs Media Collective, and curated by Diana Campbell Betancourt, took over 160 road signs and billboards across the city of Dhaka as part of the Summit. The piece, entitled “Meanwhile Elsewhere”, presented a series of clocks where numbers are replaced with Bengali words, registering a subjective experience of time and duration. Several Bangladeshi art galleries like Gallery Chitrak, Galleri Kaya, Athena Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka Art Centre, Drik Gallery, Gallery 21, Gallery Cosmos, Institute of Asian Creatives, Radius Centre, Tivoli Art Gallery, Saju Art Gallery and others took part with artworks of their preferred artists’ at the summit.
The exhibition was open for all. The Samdani Art Award is Bangladesh’s premier art award, and it aims to support, promote and highlight Bangladeshi contemporary art. This Bi-annual award were given to a talented emerging artist from Bangladesh. In 2012, there were two winners, Khaled Hasan and Murat Reazi. The Samdani Art Award is honored to be partnering with Delfina Foundation from 2013 onwards by offering the winner a three-month residency with the Delfina Foundation in London. The 2013 Jury for the Samdani Art Award comprised Adriano Pedrosa, Aaron Cezar, Jessica Morgan, Pooja Sood and Sandhini Poddar. Arts of various eminent local and international artists have been displayed in the summit. ” Hope Comes and Goes Away” is an oil piece with scribble lines and subdued colours by Monirul Islam, an eminent Bangladeshi expatriate. Free space is a noticeable aspect of his works. Serenity and lucidity are unique characteristics of his paintings and prints. ‘Symphony of Colour’ of Syed Abdullah Khaled, reflects an aspect of untainted nature, where crimson and blue get focused. Mahmudul Haues shows a great fondness for compositions and form. His works delve deep into the imaginary world and are notable for the artist’s signature turquoise composition. The scenic beauty of Bangladesh, bucolic panoramic view, metropolis, bauls, mendicants, working class rural and urban people, their sufferings, torments, bliss and ecstasies are depicted through the paintings and art works of eminent artists. Surrealist painters like Salvador Dali and Bors Vallyjo greatly influence Ahmed Shamusddoha. His paintings provide the spectators a sense of mystery
The line “Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter” happens in John Keats’ ‘ Ode on a Grecian Urn’ where a flutist continues appealing through his unheard music. Keats writes about the pipes and tumbrels embossed onto the urn and imagines them playing. He imagines such sweet melodies that he wants them to play on, not in reality to his “sensual ear”, but in his mind because there they are faultless and eternal; whereas in reality they are not only imperfect but finite. John Keats has said that most powerful truths are to be found only in art. Art tells millions of meanings through its exquisite language of the present, past and future.
(Masum Billah is programme manager, BRAC Education Programme and vice-president: Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association ( BELTA). Email: masumbillah65@gmail.com)
