Illustrating history
The exhibition titled ‘(Dis)Place’, is open for public view until February 22 at the Korean Culture Centre
Korean Cultural Centre has organised an exhibition '(Dis)Place', which explores the place variously referred to as Bengal, East Pakistan or Bangladesh at different points in recent history. The exhibition which is open for public view until February 22 at KCCI, is co-curated by Tanzim Wahab and Hadrien Diez.
The works of 10 artists and one research collective from Bangladesh – in various forms such as drawings, video and video installations, photography, to name a few have been showcased in the exhibition. Artworks and archives to inquire about the specifics of that place – the "local", while also attempting to bring perspective into the very notion of place, are displayed at the venue.
'(Dis)Place' is structured around various areas of contention, each framing questions connected to the general line of inquiry while they also open specific discussions. It touches upon topics as urgent to Bengal and Bangladesh as they are to the world: shifting environments, migration, marginalisation, economic and/or cultural appropriation. The exhibition further discusses related issues of borders and place(s) ownership, and of utopian sensibilities vis-à-vis forced displacements.
The inquiry held in (Dis)Place is intended as a symbolic point of discharge where this dense polemical weight can be off-loaded, dissected and debated. The Korean Cultural Centre is a particularly fitting locus to hold this inquiry: potent considerations of parallel histories and shared trauma bring added intensity to the conversation.
The participating artists in the exhibition include Afsana Sharmin Zhumpa, Najmun Nahar Keya, Shahidul Alam, Ronni Ahmmed, and Tayeba Begum Lipi, among others.
Tanzim Wahab and Hadrien Diez, the co-curators of the exhibition believe that their project naturally had to touch Bangldesh - the place where they are active as curators, and where their practice is rooted.
Talking about the idea behind the exhibition and their inspiration, they revealed that their first source of inspiration was the work of a long list of artists, which have been showcased in the exhibition, and also the others whom they could not include.
"We are grateful to all of them. Our research has also been spurred by the work of various writers and thinkers, and singularly that of Edouard Glissant whose postulate of a fertile relationship between the particular of place and the total of all places – the "Whole-world" – has had a profound impact on this exhibition."
Thanking the organisers – FICA and Korean Cultural Center, they said that they are very thankful for the support of the oranisations and this attempt could not be possible without them.
