‘Kromosho’: Beyond ‘Belonging’
In the middle of the 2000s, a young Munem Wasif started sifting through Old Dhaka’s veins with his aged friend Zenit—a mechanical artifact from the Soviet era. His 2012 photography masterwork “Belonging,” which would revolutionize visual storytelling in Bangladesh’s art scene, was the culmination of a journey that began with this. Similar to the constantly flowing dark waters of Buriganga, which has seen Dhaka undergo changes, Wasif’s own artistic endeavors have veered through several stages throughout time. His work has continuously pushed audiences to look past the obvious, from “Seeds Shall Set Us Free” to “Collapse.” But despite all of these adventures, one thing stayed the same: his strong, unwavering bond with Old Dhaka. Munem Wasif is doing a solo show in Dhaka after nearly 16 years. Titled “Kromosho,” the show is currently ongoing at the capital’s Bengal Shilpalay. Tanzim Wahab served as the exhibition’s curatorial advisor, Iftekhar Hassan as a project assistant, and Dehsar Works as the architectural designer. It is open to everyone and will end on May 31, 2025. “I felt like something was lacking as soon as ‘Belonging’ was released. I felt that I just got the surface of the people and their celebrations; I couldn’t reach the core of their daily existence, the ‘life’ of Puran Dhaka. That’s when I thought of creating “Kheya”l. This exhibition is like a testament to my last two decades of transformation,” remarked Wasif when asked about “Kromosho”. The opening at Bengal Shilpalay was buzzing with energy as art lovers gathered to witness what promises to be one of the most memorable exhibitions in recent times. The exhibition unfolds like a carefully composed symphony in three movements. Starting from Wasif’s ethereal black-and-white photographs from the ‘Belonging’ era, now in dialogue with new color works from ‘Stereo.’ This juxtaposition creates a fascinating tension between past and present, memory and reality. At ‘Kheyal,’ the filmic meditation about what pulses through Old Dhaka’s veins. At ‘Shamanno’ and ‘Paper Negative,’ the installations blend documentation with imagination, challenging our perceptions of what is real and what is remembered. From a critical viewpoint, Old Dhaka represents a ticking time bomb—overcrowded and decaying, it’s an ugly relic of our greed and collective neglect. But Wasif’s work reveals depths hidden in plain sight: the “life” amongst all these. Beyond the obvious chaos lies a world of hidden poetry. This is what ‘Kromosho’ captures so brilliantly—not just images of a place, but its very essence. The exhibition becomes a mirror, asking questions about what we preserve and what we discard in our relentless march toward modernity. In an age of rapid urbanization and cultural amnesia, Wasif’s work serves as both archive and elegy, reminding us of some stories that cannot be captured through cameras or words. To experience its truest essence, you have to be there in flesh and psyche. As visitors move through the gallery, they’re invited not just to see, but perhaps to introspect. In this sense, ‘Kromosho’ transcends being merely an art exhibition; it becomes a conversation, a homecoming, and, most importantly, a call to witness.
Where Artist and Audience Intertwined
Amidst the quietness of Lalmatia’s Block F lies Shunno Art Space—like multidisciplinary artists, it’s also multidisciplinary in character. Limited in floor area but with an illimitable heart, the space adorns exhibitions, has a printing workshop set up, and has a café—intertwined. From February 15 to 22, this cozy space hosted artist Sanjid Mahmud’s solo exhibition “Tracing The Distance.” The week-long exhibition witnessed a vibrant crowd, and the inauguration was graced by eminent artistic figures Hamiduzzaman Khan and Mustafa Zaman. “Exhibition visitors observe art passively, only admiring the finished works. They only view; they don’t paint. But here, they were active participants. They picked up brushes and poured their emotions into the canvasses. Even those who don’t know how to draw found themselves painting. Their raw, unfiltered expressions became the foundation. Then, I stepped in, adding my artistic intervention, blending their spontaneity with my vision.” These words from the artist Sanjid himself perfectly procure the zeitgeist of “Tracing the Distance.” Sanjid Mahmud’s “Tracing the Distance” was an artistic co-production between the artist and the exhibition visitors that prioritized real-time cooperation and process over finality. Art, being a collaborative enterprise, carries remnants of prior forms by combining individual expression with common experiences. However, Sanjid Mahmud’s initiative changed the attention away from linguistic borrowing and toward overlapping artistic expressions in the moment, resulting in a dynamic interplay between creator and participant. Visitors at Shunno Art Space were greeted with empty canvases and encouraged to add spontaneously. The act of production was valued over passive viewing, encouraging people to leave their mark on the canvasses however they liked, be it sketchy motions or painterly strokes, regardless of their creative ability. This fun and engaging method relieved the pressure of normative practices, allowing for raw, unfiltered expression. Sanjid Mahmud then stepped in, responding to these inputs without striving for a certain style result. The end result was a body of work that defied decisive conclusion, undermining modernist conceptions of linear progression and chronological time. The title of the exhibition, “Tracing the Distance,” emphasized its purposeful break with the logic of modernity, which minimizes artists’ territorial consciousness and frequently limits them to historical circumstances. Through the process of collaborating with his audiences, Sanjid Mahmud challenged the conventional understanding of art as a “significant form” or a refined praxis. In order to reveal the fluid, communal character of creativity, he instead opened the gallery’s “white cube.” By means of this collaborative approach, the artist stimulated a reconsideration of the connections among art, artists, and the art community. Thus, Shunno Art Space transformed into a place of reflection where both appreciation and creation are rethought. By emphasizing the act of doing rather than observing, “Tracing the Distance” questioned established hierarchies and honored the beauty of group, unplanned expression while providing a novel viewpoint on the ever-changing conversation between shared and individual artistic languages. Written By Shahbaz Nahian
Body and the Map: Of wounds and Hope
Beautifully curated by Sharmillie Rahman, the exhibition “Body and the Map” took place on Bengal Shilpalay between 15 and 28 December, 2024. By engaging viewers to contemplate the interaction of power, identity, and transition, “Body and the Map” was more than just another decent exhibition that had the July-August uprising as its subject matter; the exhibition not only acted as a stark reminder about what must not be forgotten but also intrigued the audiences to introspect. Consisting of the artworks of ten multidisciplinary artists, many of whom were active participants in the mass uprising that overthrew a long-standing regime, “Body and the Map” was a riveting look at societal upheaval in the aftermath of that student-led mass rebellion. The show, based on the collective memory of Bangladesh’s last July-August, is both a reflection and a debate about the force of resistance, the weight of trauma, and the possibility of change. Their work delves into the complicated reality of a country dealing with its old and fresh scars and the tiers of collective psychological state of the mass after the newfound independence. The participating artists were A. Asan, Afsana Sharmin, Ashang Mong, Farzana Ahmed, Mong Mong Shay, Niazuddin Ahmmed, Palash Bhattacharjee, Rasel Rana, Razib Datta, and Ripon Saha. The July-August uprising was characterised by an unprecedented feeling of urgency, as residents defied persecution to demand justice, equality, and dignity. However, the road to liberation came at a high cost, with bodies mutilated, lives lost, and a collective psyche permanently transformed. The show explores this dichotomy, emphasising the body as both a personal and societal vessel for history, pain, and resilience. The artworks that were adorned by the gallery space delve deeply into the concept of the body as a source of memory and resistance. Whether through physical depictions or abstract interpretations, the ten artists highlighted how the human body bears the weight of institutional injustice and governmental violence. The visual narratives starkly remind us about biopolitical disposability, demonstrating how individuals became victims of normalised violence during the authoritarian system. The relationship between body and land appears as a repeating pattern, emphasising identities defined by culture, religion, race, and gender, all of which intersect within a nation’s sovereign borders. However, these links are loaded with tension, since the scars of authoritarian authority and systematic impunity are etched on both the body and map. In the aftermath of this historic movement, “Body and the Map” illustrated the dialectics of trauma and renewal, hopelessness and optimism. The exhibition stressed the importance of open discourse and the reframing of identity and government as centralised power disintegrates and something new emerges. Despite recollections of terror, violence, and loss, the artworks elicit a cautious hope. The collective body politic, though scarred, remains resilient, signalling a determination to redefine itself and the map it inhabits. Written by Shahbaz Nahian
