05 Jan URONTO Residential Art Exchange Program- First Episode

After doing a Pilot Episode in Kushtia in 2012, URONTO launched its first Episode again in Kushtia district on February 6, 2013.

The team had chosen a historic building known to the locals as ‘Old Commissioner Building’ (Khodadadkhan Road, Thanapara, Kushtia) – a two-storied structure with high-ceilinged living quarters, expansive peripherals and a spacious roof overlooking the town, built during the reign of the British Empire as the residence of the police commissioner of Kolkata of undivided Bengal, circa 1947.

The building was given to a developer already before the Uronto team arrived there, soon in years the entire building will be gone because demolishing the structure, developers will built new modern apartments.

The project continued till February 10, 2013.

Participating Artist in the First Edition were Soumyadipta Sen (experimental Painter) from West Bengal, Fahmid Nibesh(musician) from Canada along with Bangladeshi Participants Easel Mortuza(photographer), Sadya Mizan (Installation Artist) and Ananta Kumar Das (Mixed media artist), Rabiul Islam(Mixed media Artist) also all the local child artists like: Ranta Bonnya, Mim, roshni, sabid, and many more from local area schools.The participating artists examined and explored the location through relation of time and space, since there were countless narratives surrounding the building and its impact on the immediate environment for over half a century. The child artists were included in this project to convey the reality into the next generation and give them a freedom to express their creativity in a new way.

The open studio day was held on 10-11 February 2013.

The curator of the first season was Sadya Mizan.

The art works done there was truly an output of team spirit and collaborative effort. Each of the artists was unique in their own thinking but when they joined together amazing things started taking shape.

Detail of all the works done in the Programme will be soon uploaded in the archive section.

URONTO is hosting site responsive residential art exchange programmes since 2012  within disused or abandoned spaces and heritage buildings to document cultural memories and brand Bangladesh globally through multidisciplinary artists’ collaborations. URONTO’s activities not only provide much-needed opportunities for emerging artists to expand their working practice and collaborate with international artists, but through each residency, they create an alternative documentation about the history of the selected site before it’s demolished and forgotten.

The Project invite artists and practitioners through open call and selects then through a curatorial board created newly for every Episode. It is an international program open for all kind of discipline.