Part of the Samdani Art Foundation’s ongoing work was supporting research into pre-colonial knowledge of South Asia and blurring boundaries between art and life by empowering Bangladeshi artist-led initiatives. Artists from around the world often took motifs from vernacular artistic practices, and through our initiatives, we partnered with artists and artist-led initiatives to support the practices of artists who often did not have the privileges of resources and mobility found in “the art world,” such as Cinema Banner painters, Rickshaw painters, weavers, and other talented artisans who created the vibrant visual culture of Bangladesh. Dhaka Art Summit was a platform that realized Bangladesh’s largest cinema banner painting in collaboration with Jothashilpa, SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, and the Goethe Institut, and kantha stitched renditions of Bangladesh’s six seasons were realized in collaboration with Art Pro and were recently acquired by the Whitworth Museum in Manchester after their display at Dhaka Art Summit 2020. Protecting the heritage of Bangladeshi traditional arts also meant supporting the people behind these arts in their daily lives, so they could continue their practice once the world healed from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Samdani Art Foundation is proud to have partnered with Britto Arts Trust to support 23 Rickshaw painters and Cinema Banner painters to produce each producing an artwork that highlighted the unique talent of each maker, while also financially supporting this at-risk community in a time when there were few opportunities for them to continue their work animating public spaces of Dhaka. The artist community forming Britto Art Trust had been working with Rickshaw painters and Cinema Banner painters for a long time. They had exhibited the works of the painters in Paris at Palais de Tokyo, and at other leading institutional platforms in Bangladesh and abroad. Britto Arts Trust had generously lent their talent and infrastructure to help bring 23 artists into the fold of Britto and gave them a platform to share their work with the world during this difficult time. The artists had painted on cut-outs representing parts of the human body, speaking to the fact that together, we were one collective body as residents and contributors to life in Dhaka.