Documenta 14 in Kasel, Germany
Bengal Foundation supports an exhibition of the works of two artists from Bangladesh at Documenta 14 in Kassel, Germany that began June 10. The works of pioneer modernist artist and founding father of Bangladeshi modern art Zainul Abedin (1914-1976), and of contemporary film-maker and writer Naeem Mohaiemen advance different perspectives on the recent history of the country and the region of Bengal, says a press release.
Zainul Abedin's famed Famine Series powerfully captures the tragic and often overlooked episode of the Bengal famine of 1943, during which an estimated two million people died while the British colonial government was at war. Two ink drawings of the Famine Series belonging to the private collection of Abul Khair, chairman, Bengal Foundation, are presented to the public for the first time. “Showing Abedin and other Bengal School artists who have dealt with the Famine history will not only raise the attention to their artistic oeuvre, but also provide a deeper understanding of a pivotal moment in Modern history and Europe's colonial legacy” writes Documenta 14 Artistic Director Adam Szymczyk.
Naeem Mohaiemen's "Two Meetings and a Funeral" (2017) is a three-channel film about Bangladesh's historical pivot between the 1973 Non Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting in Algeria, and its' ideological opponent, the 1974 Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) meeting in Lahore. Centring the country's navigation of these two meetings while it fought for UN recognition (vetoed by China as proxy for Pakistan), the project considers the erosion of the idea of the Third World as a potential space for de-colonialism, liberation theology, and socialism. The film was co-commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation and Just Films/Ford Foundation. It is supported by Arts Council England, Tensta Konsthall (Sweden), and Bengal Foundation.
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