The 2023 Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India was hosted last week by the Asia Society India Centre. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Asia Arts Future Award 2023.  This was awarded to the Gidree Bawlee Foundation of Arts, mentioned a press release. The Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF) has been supporting this award category for the last three years as the title sponsor.

Gidree Bawlee Foundation of Arts, which was founded in 2001 by Kamruzzaman Shadhin and co-run by Salma Jamal Moushum, is a community-based arts organisation that operates various creative programmes and research in the village of Balia in Thakurgaon, Bangladesh.

Photo: DBF

Through its social practice and community-focused activities, the Gidree Bawlee Foundation of Arts strives to create a balanced influence in the artistic process and develop artworks and projects that respond to local history, culture, and the environment.

In 2020, DBF collaborated with Gidree Bawlee Art Foundation, to create the "Bhumi" project. This project supported traditional crafts and workers in the Thakurgaon district during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, DBF funded another exhibition with Gidree Bawlee director, Kamruzzaman Shadhin, titled "The Elephant in the Room," which was hosted at the US Embassy and the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka in 2020/21 and exhibited in D3 space during Art Dubai 2021.

Gidree Bawlee has been working with DBF on various projects since 2019, and Kamruzzaman Shadhin was a participant in the organisation's first Majhi Art Residency Project in Venice, Italy in 2019.