Arts extravaganza

Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed

The fourth edition of Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) begins at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on February 2. The grand art fiesta proved hugely popular in the past, which has led to an exciting modification in this year's installation. After the overwhelming responses received last year, DAS will be extended to 9 days. Director of DAS Nadia Samdani, who is also the President and co-founder of the prestigious Samdani Art Foundation, shared some insights into the significance of the multifarious expressions of contemporary art of South and South-East Asia and beyond, as well the role played by international curators and participating artists. Excerpts:  

“This time, the summit has been extended for nine days (February 2-10). Last year we had 138,000 local visitors and 800 international guests in a four-day programme. This time we have over 300 artists and 120 international speakers including Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and 10 curators to participate in lots of symposiums, talks and art shows. It's going to be held under one roof where 10 separate shows will go on under the hold of different curators, who have conducted extensive research, supported by us for the last two years.”

“What is different this time is that DAS previously focused on the South-Asian region; but this time we have included South-East Asia emphasising Bangladesh's trade-link with other countries. So, whether it is fabrics, designs or silks, the curators have done extensive research on how Bangladesh can benefit from the connection through the art initiative.”

“Apart from the Samdani Art Award, we'll have an education pavilion for which we had an open call for the third and fourth year students of Architecture to submit their designs and models. An international jury selected the winner from a huge number of submissions, whose project will be displayed at the venue.”

“The summit will shed light on a broad spectrum related to art. We have lots of speakers from Harvard, Columbia, Cambridge and all over. We have directors of MoMA, Tate Modern, -- all speaking on the same panel. Along with the chief curator Diana Campbell Betancourt, who will represent Samdani Art Foundation, there will be nine other curators working on a particular theme. Large scale installations and performances by well-known artists will be displayed at the entrance of the venue.”

“Among many interesting projects, artist Zuleikha Chaudhari, whose family owns the Bhawal Estate, will arrange a court room where she will display the original photographs, documents and everything to resume the famous Bhawal Court Case. So it will be an interactive performance where real lawyers and judges will deal with the longest running historical case. Another Indian artist, Neha Choksi, along with her team, will also perform another interactive live project.”

“As weaving plays an important role in shaping modern civilisation, there will be a huge display of textiles with the presence of weavers from indigenous groups. Weavers from the Australian indigenous groups will take part in finding links and trade routes of Bangladeshi indigenous groups. Bangladeshi artists' works will be prominently displayed at the Summit. Diana's show will display noted Bangladeshi artist Kanak Chanpa Chakma's works shedding light on how she established her journey. Her mother's weavings, fabrics and flags will also be showcased.”

“A researched based project on Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh (AABB) will be exhibited at the Summit. The artworks of the first 10 years (first five editions) will be displayed at a special show. The main archives of the Biennale are preserved in Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, where Diana has spent almost two months to conduct research.”