The other side of the 18th Asian Art Biennale
The month-long 18th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh (AABB) concluded yesterday with mixed reactions. From the last edition (2016), the organisers – the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (MoCA) and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) opened the biennale for artists from around the world. Its arrangement had a drastic change, uncannily similar to the Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) organised by Samdani Art Foundation, in association with MoCA and BSA. Aren't we losing the character of previously held AABBs, merely mimicking the arrangement pattern of DAS? So far, DAS has gained momentum in the world art scene, promoting and exhibiting research-based, well-curated shows of modern and contemporary art of South Asia and the world while AABB is apparently losing its glory displaying poorly curated shows.
Lack of proper research to select precise artworks according to respective themes, callousness to represent world-class curating, multifarious follies by the various organising committees, nepotism in selecting awards, meaningful displays of artworks and disengagement with the entire artist community of Bangladesh are some aggravating aspects of the biennale.
“The art selection should have been thematic, research-based and meaningful. The standard of curated shows and retrospectives by contemporary master artists should be included on a larger scale,” says Dr Marek Bartelik, the former president of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). He was an observer at the biennale this year. “We have to make sure that the space doesn't swallow the art itself—it should make art stand out in its own glory.”
Everyone, including Marek, appreciated the show titled Bindu Bisorga, curated by Bishwajit Goswami. The performance art show, curated by Mahbubur Rahman, was a commendable one, as he focused on colonisation and partition. However, the performance art space should keep no display of artwork, since it creates conflicts.
It is truly a great pity to note that a screen print titled Whirl, by one of the eminent Japanese artists Ritsuko Takeda, was framed with the glass that had a label of Nasir Glass on it. Spillover white paints of the wall were marked on several portions of the framing. The overall design of lighting was abysmal. Several paintings didn't have proper light positioning, and had poor quality photo print materials and defocused light that created distasteful views of the artworks.
Art should not only be visually pleasing, it should also have reflections of a conscious and collective socio-political aspiration. Several works by the master painters and renowned contemporary artists were not properly on display. Their works should have been displayed with great care in a special gallery. There were no retrospective shows by the modern and contemporary masters. The decoration of the unique National Art Gallery building of BSA had the least reflection of our art and cultural heritage. Our unmatched folk heritage was not represented at all in the décor. The Department of Fine Art of BSA needs to invite active important artists. A selected group of active Bangladeshi artists and aspiring curators from all age groups can be sent to different continents for mingling with their global counterparts, so that they can see the landscape of the global art scene. In this way, they can contribute to the next AABB. An initiative of training local curators aboard can be added to the agenda.
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