Live Art Performance at British High Commissioner’s residence

Marking Terrain Biennial 2019 (October 1-November 17), the British High Commissioner in Dhaka, for the first time, hosted site-specific and durational live art performances at his residence in Baridhara, recently. The day-long event featured performances by the artists Teresa Albor, Farah Naz Moon, Tahmina Hafiz Lisa, Sanjid Mahmud, Ashim Halder Sagor, Emran Sohel, Syed Muhammad Zakir, Abu Naser Robi and Shubho O Saha.

The event, held in collaboration with Back ART and the Dhaka Live Art Biennale (D’LAB), started with two durational performances by Teresa Albor and Farah Naz Moon. Art lovers toured around the antique architectures of the British High Commissioner’s residence and enjoyed ongoing performances happening all around the house -- in the garden, lawn, swimming pool, garden room, main hall room and corridor.

There was no prior announcement of the performances and only the featured artists knew the schedules, as they were to perform accordingly. Most of the performances continued for about half-an-hour each, while the longest performance endured for 3 hours.

Photo: Courtesy

The theme of this year’s Terrain Biennial was to take stock of the landscape people are living in today -- the terrain we occupy and the topology of our moment. Artists and hosts were asked to reflect upon the ways in which our environment changes us and how we are changing it.

Unlike other art festivals, the Terrain Biennial changed regular form of art exhibitions and performances, that are often confined to institutional spaces and class-specific audiences. Building on Chicago’s tradition of apartment galleries and artist-run spaces, the Biennial brought contemporary art into an intimate terrain, fostering dialogue between neighbours. This way the exhibition was open to a wide range of people.