The Contemporary Art Day was celebrated in Dhaka with a group exhibition of Italian and Bangladeshi artists organised by the Italian Embassy with the support of the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation and in association with the Venice-based publishing company Lightbox.
For three days, the artists of the two Countries exchanged ideas and prospects in a number of workshops and debates that enriched the discussions. The Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation and the Gallery of Edge, The Foundation, which hosted the exhibition, joined efforts with Berlin and Venice, also through the Biennale, where Bangladesh has a pavilion of its own this year.
The exhibition displayed works by David Dalla Venezia, Cosima Montavoci, Andrea Morucchio, Chiara Tubia, and was coordinated by the curator, Caterina Corni, and included the participation of Bangladeshi artists Dilara Begum Jolly, Dhali Al Mamoon, Kamruzzaman Shadhin and Noor Ahmed Gelal.
The exhibition programme included a painting workshop by artist David Dalla Venezia at the Department of Arte of the University of Dhaka and a visit by artist Cosima Montavoci at the studio of one of the most important contemporary sculptors in Bangladesh, Hamiduzzaman Khan. In addition, academician and art historian Abul Mansoor coordinated a debate on the influence of Italian contemporary art on Bangladeshi art at the gallery of Edge, The Foundation, with the participation of Caterina Corni and the artists displaying in the group exhibition, besides other members of the Bangladeshi art community.
The exhibition’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Debnath, the Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, in addition to members of the world of culture and of the international and the Italian community in Bangladesh.
