Dhaka Int'l Live Art Biennale sets off today

Back ART, one of the most active young artists' groups and artist-run organisations is organising the country's first performance-based international live art exhibition titled “Dhaka Live Art Biennale” (DLAB).

A number of national and international practicing performance artists will participate in the festival.

The biennale is themed on the concept “How The Body Traces Language and Culture: Profiles of Performativity”. Some 46 artists from 13 countries will participate in the biennale. The hope is that the maiden DLAB in Bangladesh will be a big step for the Bangladeshi contemporary art movement towards a future where art will intertwine with the local and the global trends of performance arts, artists and art enthusiasts.

Back ART also arranged an inaugural seminar marking first DLAB at the Munier Chowdhury Seminar Hall, TSC of Dhaka University yesterday. The three-day (February 1-3) event will take place at four venues – Faculty of Fine Art, Chhobir Haat, Curzon Hall and Swimming Pool of University of Dhaka. The event will feature performance of artists from around the globe, creating a unique opportunity for the Dhaka audience to experience such a convergence of performance artists for the first time in Bangladesh.

The participating artists at the biennale are Abel Azcona (Spain), Amal Akash ( Bangladesh), Anupam Saikia (India), Arpita Singha (Bangladesh), Ashim Halder (Bangladesh), Chelsea Coon (USA), Chhobi Zulfiqure (Bangladesh), Dimple B Shah (India), Effat Rejowana Reya (Bangladesh), Emran Sohel (Bangladesh), Fajar Susanto (Indonesia), Farzana Hossen and Sadia Marium (Bangladesh), Farah Naz Moon (Bangladesh), Ferial Afiff (Indonesia), Fernando Hermógenes (Brasil), Ismail Hossen Niloy (Bangladesh), Joydeb Roaja (Bangladesh), Jaff Waley (Bangladesh), Jewel A Rob (Bangladesh), Kamruzzaman Shadhin (Bangladesh), Kelvin Atmadibrata (Indonesia), Mustafa Zaman (Bangladesh), Manuel Lopez Garcia (Spain), Marita Sophie Bullmann (Germany), Marcel Sparmann (Germany), Michel Klöfkorn (Germany), Nazia Andaleeb Preema (Bangladesh), Nilanjana Gogoi (India), Ridwan Rau Rau (Indonesia), Ritesh Maharjan (Nepal), Rodrigo Munhoz (Brasil), Rokko Juhász (Slovakia), Sanad Biswas (Bangladesh), Sanjoy Chakraborty (Bangladesh), Sharker Nasrin Toontoon (Bangladesh), Shubho Saha (Bangladesh), Smitha Cariappa (India), Syed Muhammad Zakir (Bangladesh), Tang Linglong (China), Tanzina Hossen (Bangladesh), Tony  Schwensen (Australia), Yuki Kobayashi (Japan), Yuzuru Maeda (Japan), Tesha Mei Nua Chai (Jamaica) and Dimitrije Zekic Dimo (Montenegro).

Performances will be held every day in two sessions. The morning session will start daily at10am and will continue till 1pm while the second session will be held from 3pm to 6pm on February 1 and from 7:30pm to 9pm the following days.

Since 2013, Back ART has organised art projects in the country and abroad aiming to broaden the scope of artistic practice both in term of the nature of art and the place of staging.