Roman Ondak: Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) 2023

Roman Ondak, Teaching to Walk, 2002

The Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) is an international, non-commercial research and exhibition platform for art and architecture related to South Asia. With a core focus on Bangladesh, DAS re-examines how we think about these forms of art in both a regional and an international context. Founded in 2012 by the Samdani Art Foundation—which continues to produce the festival—in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, DAS is hosted every two years at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Following the fifth edition subtitled Seismic Movements which welcomed nearly 500,000 visitors in nine days in February 2020, its sixth edition is the first edition with a Bangla subtitle; বন্যা/Bonna. 

DAS 2023 considers the ways in which we inherit and form vocabularies to understand the world around us, and the mistranslation that can ensue when we try to apply these vocabularies to unfamiliar contexts; the same word can migrate from positive to negative connotations and back depending on how and where it travels. Weather and water as shapers of history and culture as well as being metaphors for life in general are viewed in an embodied way through the lens of those who live in Bangladesh, next to the sea and rivers, underneath the storm systems, feeling the wind and rain. This is further explored through a consideration of how Bengali children encounter these phenomena, palpably but also via the stories passed down through generations. The aim is to see past the limits of translation which can be incapable of conveying the different ways we negotiate the world, and open up new channels for transcultural empathy. How do you tell the story of a crisis, while facilitating hope?

Artists: Abdul Guffar Babu, Abdus Shakoor Shah, Abir Abdullah, Abul Barq Alvi, Ade Diyanita and Aditya Novali, Afield, Afra Marciel Eisma, Afrah Shafiq, Agnieszka Kurant, Ahmed Rasel, Ahmed Shamsuddoha, Ahmet Ogut, Alok Roy, Alakesh Ghosh, Ali Kazim, Amitav Ghosh with Ali Sethi & Salman Toor , Amit Dutta, Anga Art Collective, Anisuzzaman Anis, Anisuzzaman, Anpu Varkey, Antara Mehrukh Azad, Anthony McCall, Antony Gormley, Arif Baul, ArtPro, Artreach India, Ashfika Rahman, Ashrafia Adib, Ayesha Sultana, Aziza Chaouni, Benodebehari Mukherjee, Bhasha Chakrabarti, Bishwajit Goswami, Blaise Joseph and Atreyee Day with NEGfire, Brihatta, Chittaprosad, Daniel Boyd, Damasush Hacha, David Horvitz, Dhali Al Mamun, Dilara Begum Jolly, Dinar Sultana Putul, Dipa Mahbuba Yasmin, Driant Zeneli, Emran Hossain, FACE, Farida Zaman, Faysal Zaman, Felecia Davis & Delia Dumitrescu, Friendship, Ganesh Pyne, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Gidree Bawlee Foundation of Arts, Gullyboy Rana & Tabib Mahmud, Ha Bik Chuen Archive, Habiba Nowrose, Hamiduzzaman Khan, Hana Miletic, Hashem Khan, Irushi Tennekoon, Jaago Foundation, Jamal Ahmed, Jani Ruscica, Jessy Razafimandimby, Jothashilpa, Joydeb Roaja, Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty, Kamruzzaman Shadhin, Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Kasper Bosmans, Kelly Sinnapah Mary, Lala Rukh, Lapdiang Syiem, Leela Mukherjee, Lokesh Khodke, Lucas Arruda, Mahmuda Siddika, Marina Perez Simao, Marina Tabassum, Marzia Farhana, Marzia Migliora, Matt Copson, Matthew Krishanu, Mauruf Jameel, Md Fazla Rabbi Fatiq, Michael John Whelan, Miet Warlop, Mohammad Eunus, Mohammad Shihab Uddin, Mojahid Musa, Mong Mong Sho, Monica Jahan Bose. Monirul Islam, Mostafizul Haque, Mustafa Monwar, Munem Wasif, Murari Jha, Nabil Ahmed, Najmun Nahar Keya, Nazlee Laila Mansur, Neha Choksi and Rachelle Rojany, Nikima Jagudajev, Niloofar Chaman, Nisar Hossain, Olalekan Jeyifous, Pol Taburet, Prasad Shetty & Rupali Gupte, Purnima Aktar, Rafiqun Nabi, Rakib Anwar, Rana Begum, Rasel Rana, Re/Dress, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, Rithika Merchant, Rizvi Hassan, Rokeya Sultana, Roman Ondak, Rohingya Cultural Memory Center, Safiuddin Ahmed, Sahej Rahal, Sana Shahmuradova-Tanska, Sanjoy Chakraborty, Sarker Protick, Satyajit Ray, Shada Kortaal, Shaheen Dill-Riaz, Shahid Kabir, Shahzia Sikander, Shaunak Sen, Shawon Akand, Shezad Dawood, Sheikh Afzal Hossain, Shen Xin, Shoummo Saha, Simon Fujiwara, SM Sultan, Sohorab Rabbey, Soma Surovi Jannat, Storia Na Lugar (Patti Anahory and Cesar Cardoso), Suchi Reddy, Sumayya Vally, Sumi Anjuman, Susanta Mandal, Tanya Goel, Tarun Ghosh, Thao Nguyen Phan, Transend BD, Veronika Hapchenko, We Are From Here Collective, Yasmin Jahan Nupur.

Dhaka Art Summit (DAS)