Dhaka Social Art Festival Stories of the Voiceless
The Faketory is an art studio in Sao Paulo, Brazil with a branch in Amsterdam which produces art and carries out projects around the globe. The baseline is sustainable, always raising the question: What do you contribute to the world? Till date, the project has covered a handful of metropolitan cities from all over the world, unraveling the stories behind the ordinary faces. As a part of the international series, Martijn Crowe, artist and creative director of The Faketory art studio, and artist Ronald Merkesteijn undertook an exciting three-month long project in Dhaka that contributed to the story-telling of the masses who often go unseen and unheard.
“When you ride a rickshaw, you only see the back of a man sweating profusely under the scorching sun. You never care to look at his face or listen to his story,” answers Crowe when asked what inspired him to work on The Dhaka Project. Crowe, in collaboration with Dhaka Art Center, worked with a group of 25 Bangladeshi artists varying from painters, photographers, authors and graphic designers. They were challenged to look for answers, passionately working with the customary question, “What do you contribute to the world?” The outcome was an interactive and creative experience of paintings, installations, drawings, photography, statues and stories shedding light on the lives of diverse focus groups such as bangle sellers, musicians, rickshaw pullers, homosexuals, the elderly, cleaners and the homeless.
The artists themselves went through various levels of realisation as they wandered on the streets of Dhaka looking for stories to bring out to the world. Artist Trina says, “This process has brought me closer to the bangle sellers I walked by every day; now I know about their lives. It has changed me and I want to invite you to do the same. See them, make a connection.” Photographer Samsul Alam had made a weeklong stay at the slums with the cleaner community so that he could capture the essence of their lives in still pictures. For painter Alia Kamal, the focus has rather been personal. She devoted her time painting colourful images of her neglected relationship with her father because she believes that negligence, one kind or the other, needs to be addressed before a relationship is beyond repair.
In this vibrant and crowded metropolis, there is an abundance of everything. If you can't find something in Dhaka, you can hardly find it anywhere else. The Dhaka Project listens to the hushed voices, gives faces to the stories and poses a question: Is there an escape? “They are normal people living in a wrong circumstance,” says Crowe about the various focus groups and the words struck me as I looked at a reality that is different but parallel to mine. The project aimed for awareness and responsibility and it has done so quite well. As soon as you know the stories, it becomes your responsibility to share them.
The three-day long festival took place at the Dhaka Art Center from August 22 to 24.
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