An art exhibition featuring a range of multidisciplinary artworks presented by eleven awardees of the ‘Futures Beyond the Self 2020′ project is now open for visitors and will continue till April 8, 2021, starting from 4 pm to 8 pm, every day at the Gallery Kalakendra premises, said a press release.
The Kalakendra curatorial team has curated this exhibition. Gallery address is Kalakendra, (2nd floor), 1/11, Iqbal road, Dhaka-1207.
Initiated by Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, ‘Futures Beyond the Self’ grant was given to eleven winners in 2020 to realise their respective arts project ideas into reality and the end results of these are now on display for public viewing. The initiative seeks to provide a space for new ideas to flourish for continued societal and collective engagement.
In light of the COVID 19 pandemic, the opening event was held on March 9 evening with a limited number of invitees.
While invited to speak on behalf of eleven awardees, Priyanka Chowdhury said, “The project provided a platform to consolidate our thoughts and realisations. Participating artists from various backgrounds offered different ways of seeing and it’s fascinating.’
Inaugurating the exhibition as the special guest, eminent architect Marina Tabassum said, “Future beyond the Self” is a time appropriate grant initiative by the Goethe Institute. In order to combat the existential crisis of our species, the first few decades of the 21st century must be dedicated to critical rethinking to re-evaluate the predominant orders running the world that has caused depletion of resources and imbalance in the natural system.”
“Our existence can only be ensured when we develop an attitude that looks beyond self as a collective, inclusive and pluralistic voice that nurtures new ideas, research and creativities that are informed and ensure a balanced living. Art, through history, has been at the forefront in this regard. This initiative gives voice to multidisciplinary ideas, a platform to flourish,” shed added.
Sharing his thoughts on the pandemic, life and its journey, artist Wakilur Rahman explained how exciting the journey was for him to be involved as one of the juries to narrow down the list into the last eleven projects and finally curation for this exhibition. He thanked all awardees, his curatorial team and the Goethe-Institut Bangladesh and added that the new space of Kalakendra is very happy to be a part of this event.”
Director of Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, Dr Kirsten Hackenbroch stated, “It is very important to use this multidisciplinary exhibition to further investigate the nexus between digital and physical cultural programming. Almost all projects on the exhibition here originally developed for digital spaces – so let’s discuss what makes a unique digital contribution, whether we need to challenge our approaches to established physical formats and discover the potentials of hybridity.”
The awardees are Priyanka Chowdhury (research), Arifur Rahman (short film), Karkhana Collective (music), Murshed Jahangir (visual art), Parsa Sanjana Sajid (research), Emran Sohel (visual art), Samsul Alam Helal (photography), Sumana Akter (visual art), Shahla Islam (short film), Tahia Farhin Haque (visual art) and Tehai Interdisciplinary Art Initiative (performance art).
The jury involved were Visual Artist and Trustee, Founder of Britto Arts Trust, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Executive Director of Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB) Dr Meghna Guhathakurta, Chief Curator, Bengal Arts Programme, Bengal Foundation Tanzim Wahab and Artist, Curator, Kalakendra Wakilur Rahman, as well as two representatives from Goethe-Institut Bangladesh Dr Kirsten Hackenbroch, Director and K. Md. Mahmud Hassan, Programme Coordinator.
The context for the “Future Beyond the Self” initiative:
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the environment of cultural engagements in the blink of an eye. Every day of the cultural scene has moved online, and this move has both disconnected some initiatives and activities, while, at the same time connected others.
Furthermore, the pandemic has triggered us to look beyond our immediate human condition to contextualize our being in the world.
How does what we do impact others? How do we consider the non-human and material worlds in our everyday actions? Which futures do we imagine beyond being self-centred on “surviving online”?
Keeping these questions in mind, the Goethe-Institute Bangladesh invited all Bangladeshi artists, art collectives, cultural activists, and cultural organizations in late September to apply for funding under the initiative “Futures beyond the Self”. The results came on November 27 after an in-depth evaluation process led by a panel of juries.
