Rasel Chowdhury bags Samdani Art Award 2016

Rasel Chowdhury, an alumnus of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, has won the prestigious Samdani Art Award 2016. Vying with 12 shortlisted artists, Rasel won the award for his work on “Railway Longings” where he highlighted his train journey and photographed the experience filled with nostalgia. The artist showcased the transformation of landscapes and rail structures ranging from villages to towns.

Diana Campbell Bentancourt, the artistic director and curator of Dhaka Art Summit announced the award on the opening day of the four-day summit at the VIP Lounge of the Summit at Le Meridien hotel.

“I think the judges considered both my physical and mental journey through portraying the works. I travelled on foot, covering all the railway stations from Kamlapur, Dhaka to my hometown Jamalpur and photographed the changing landscapes including greenery, barrenness, structural changes and what I watched in my journey,” said Rasel Chowdhury.

Rasel Chowdhury, who is represented as a contractual photographer for New York Times and Getty lmages, will receive a scholarship opportunity of Three-Month residency at Delfina Foundation in London in order to work on his art.

“The Residency will help me to further flourish my journey with a renewed artistic vision and inspiration. I would like to work on photography based other media,” added Rasel.  

The other shortlisted artists for Samdani Art Award 2016 were Ashit Mitra, Atish Saha, Farzana Ahmed Urmi, Gazi Nafis Ahmed, Palash Battacharjee, Rafiqul Shuvo, Rupam Roy, Salma Abedin Prithi, Samsul Alam Helal, Shimul Saha, Shumon Ahmed and Zihan Karim.

Rasel Chowdhury previously exhibited his work in Singapore Photo Festival in Singapore, 2014, Eyes on Bangladesh in New York, 2014 PIX photo Exhibition in Delhi, 2014 Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh. He has received many awards and grants. Among them are Syngenta Award 2014, Getty lmages Emerging Talent Award 2012 and lan Parry Scholarship Award 2011.