08 Oct URONTO Residential Art Exchange Program- Second Episode
URONTO launched the second project on the 14th of August 2013, at Nikli Upazila, Kishoreganj District, Bangladesh.
Other than the water life the area also has few very old structures which includes jamindar houses, Old British factories, monuments, temples, mosques etc. In this area once upon a time famous Birla company had successful jute business and the local businessmen working with Birla earned a lot and became very rich, most probably then they built their palace houses for living. Some parts of the old houses are abandoned already and some soon will be. This old structures and the water matter altogether creates a unique and mysterious subject to work with and explore it in various ways. This are some structures and situations which might not be same in next five years, we might not be able to see the old houses after ten years, global worming might change the water range in coming years, then this water life experience might turn good or even bad, who knows? And unfortunately a very few people other than the locals of Nikli knows about this houses or changes of nature in Nikli. Very little documentation has been done of this place which contain almost next to nothing about the old houses and the water life.
In the Second project Uronto worked with three significant architectural structures in Nikli – Pal Bari, Doyal Kuthir and Gobindopur Akhra.
In the first site -“Pal Bari”- the house was named after the family surname “Pal” who uses to live there. Few old members of the last generations live there now, but the history is all gone, they remember nothing of the past. The main entrance of the Palace only holds the glory but the inside is all gone and reconstructed with small rooms. The large entrance gate is entirely decorated with decorative small ceramics pieces, a beautiful example of ceramic crafting. Most of the works done there by the participating artists were water colors and sketches.
The second Spot was-Dayal Kuthir. It was built around 100 years before, and the decoration was done later in around Bengali 1340 year. This house was full of myth beliefs and stories. Decorated with ceramics work and the hanging balconies are amazingly beautiful. Gorachad Shah built this house after whom the Pilot school is named in Nikli. Now his Grandson Sanjit Shah lives in this house with his brothers. He is the Head master of the Pilot School now. Works done in this house was few installation works explaining the myth stories and true stories too. Few water colors were done and the writer wrote a full poem on the house too.
The third space was Gabindapur Akhra which was not very much accessible for art works but few photographic works and conceptual paintings have been done. This site was a surprising combination of British and Muslim architectural influence, Walls with reliefs and a two-shaded small house with a giant beautiful wooden panel engraved characters from Hindu Mythology. Presently some Hindu families lives around it but the old structures are barely taken care of. Even they are also building new modern houses around.
Gabindapur Akhara
In this project, the participants were invited to portray the relation of water life with the architectural existences around and deliver an aesthetical expression about the history, beauty, importance etc of these old structures in their won media. Participants justified the facts of the circumstance and brought out the language & beauty through their own media, creativity and curiosity.
Selected Artist in the 2nd Episode were: Ariful Islam , Shahriar Shafiq, Mohammad Khairul Hasan, Sultan Ishtiaque, Obaydul Kabir Rikto Charushi, Rafiqul Islam , Afroza Hossain Sara, Emdadul Hoque Topu, Siddiqui Nitol, Zarin Tasnim, Wahed Mahmud, Kazi Shaharia Sompa, Wahid Khan, Susanta Dey and Bhanu Pan. The season was curated by Sadya Mizan.
The Project was supposed to continue till 22th August 2013 but it ended 2 days early for unfortunate heavy rain and bad weather condition. Open Studio Day on the 20th of August was arranged in the Local Pilot school named Gorachad(GC) Pilot High School in “Nikli”.
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.
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