Dhaka Art Summit

Uma Prakash

Second edition of Dhaka Art Summit served not only as a perfect platform for South-Asian art but also a treat for the artistically curious mind with a variety of curated photography shows, performance art shows and experimental film screenings etc to offer. Uma Prakash reports.

“My goal was to create a world class exhibition to inspire and educate local audiences, and to engage international artists and encourage them to learn more and support art from South Asia and in particular Bangladesh. We were very successful on both fronts,”said Artistic Director Diana Campbell Betancourt who together with Mahbubur Rahman curated this event. Cambell Betancourt definitely achieved her goals at the second edition of Dhaka Art Summit, as it featured world class artists like Shahzia Sikander, Shilpa Gupta and Monirul Islam, Naeem Mohaiemen and others. It also generated a great sense of comradeship and commitment among the artists who participated at this dedicated South Asian event. Works by 250 artists from South Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were shown. Thirty three commercial galleries from the region funded by the Samdani Art Foundation exhibited their artists. The organizers created a platform where artists, curators, museums, galleries and visitors from across Bangladesh and the world met in a noncommercial environment. The entire event was exceptionally well organized and installed. There were several curated group exhibitions, solo projects, public art projects, performance programmes and experimental films along with the galleries.
In the curated group exhibitions, three focused on Bangladeshi contemporary art and photography. B/Desh curated by Parisbased curator and art historian Deepak Ananth (France) showed a great variety of works and themes of Bangladeshi artists like Ronni Ahmed and photographers Shumon Ahmed, Omar Adnan Chowdhury, Gazi Nafis Ahmed and Rana Begum (b 1977)’s. Rana Begum’s work was purely crystalline, simple and consisted of geometric forms. Minimal with vibrant colors were the main traits of her installations. They were different from her solo dome like installation made of baskets.