Bengal's Performance Art Week begins today
The Visual Arts Programme of Bengal Foundation is set to hold Performance Art Week 2016 featuring 20 performances by artists of diverse backgrounds. The event will begin today at 4pm at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhanmondi in the capital.
The participating artists are Palash Bhattacharjee, Joydeb Roaja, Jewel A Rob, Hasna Hena Porosh, Sanad Kumar Biswas, Sharkar Nasrin Toontoon, Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Arpita Singha Lopa, Efat Razowana Reya, Sumana Akter, Reetu Sattar, Niloofar Chaman, Waley Jaff, Meherun Akter, Atish Saha, Emran Sohel, Afsana Sharmin, Farah Naz Moon, Sanjay Chakraborty and Ashim Halder Sagor. The featured artists have been selected from a number of applications submitted in response to an open call.
The programme has been organised with an aim to looking into the multiple complexities of this ephemeral medium through discussions, performances and exhibitions. What role does it play in cultural and political activism as opposed to white-cube spaces? How do artists materialise this non-material art? How does this medium contribute to the evolution of new languages? These are some of the questions that the performance art week seeks to answer. Performance Art Week 2016 will also attempt to have a comprehensive look on the role of performance art in contemporary Bangladesh.
The programme will take place at three different venues -- Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts (Dhanmondi) on December 27 and December 30, Daily Star-Bengal Arts Precinct (The Daily Star Centre) on December 28 and Gyantapash Abdur Razzaq Bidyapeeth (Dhanmondi) on December 29. Programmes will start at 4pm and continue till 7pm, and is open to all.
Featuring documentations of Performance Art Week 2016, the Visual Arts Programme will also hold an exhibition titled “ephemeral: perennial” exploring the mediums and possibilities of documenting performance art. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam and art critic Professor Md. Abul Monsur at Daily Star-Bengal Arts Precinct on January 6. The show, open from 11am to 7pm daily, will continue till February 25.