In the Terrains of Fear

Excerpt of an art piece by Orchid Chakma | © Sheikh Mehedi Morshed

Group show by Ghartera in Lalmatia, making art accessible. By Kazi Tahsin Agaz ApurboIn this day and age and for a long time now, fear is an emotion that encapsulates us in very much all spheres of our lives. The culture of fear flows from the mighty state, corporations, social institutions to religious establishments. It lives through our homes and all the way down to our individual reality. Fear as we know it today, is beyond a survival instinct. It has also become a tool of oppression, control and manipulation - a weapon of the hegemonic bloc. As a result, the emotion itself is as prominent as many of our identities.

 
Excerpt of a piece by Junaid Iqbal Ishmam | © Sheikh Mehedi Morshed
The second show of Ghartera invited to express, explore and navigate through the nature of fear. We were looking for work in any language or medium that interprets your ideas in relation to fear. How you face and deal with it; or how you may have overcome and triumphed over it.

 Khyapa Collective (left), AAA battery (left wall), Project Pudina on the right wall | © Sheikh Mehedi MorshedEventually, in the process of scrutinizing the aspects of fear itself we hope to communicate the argument of the personal, the political and all that lies in between.
"The traditional gallery space often intimidates audiences with its rules that set who the viewer can be or can't be. But we believe that art should be interactive and that it is for everybody," says Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo, one of the curators of Ghartera. 

Videostill, Junaid Iqbal Ishmam | © Sheikh Mehedi Morshed"

Stepping away from the standards of high art, we intend on making art more interactive and accessible with our collaborative approach giving voice to anyone to use art as a tool to express themselves in the pursuit of creativity. This year's edition focuses on breaking the fear of those normative practices."

 Artist Taiara Farhana Tareque performing | © Sheikh Mehedi Morshed Short project documentary and interview with Goethe Pop Up curator Kazi Tahsin Agaz © Goopy Bagha Productions Limited | Goethe-Institut Bangladesh

Author
Kazi Tahsin Agaz is a curator, gallerist, visual artist, and journalist based in Dhaka. He is a co-founder and executive director of Dwip Gallery, founder and curator of Ghartera, and a co-founder of Chatrak, Bangladeshi Photographers as well as Moncho.Kazi worked for The Daily Star, the largest English daily in Bangladesh, for 10 years, where he reported on minority communities to amplify voices and promote human rights. Kazi had three solo exhibitions and participated, curated, and organized over 40 group exhibitions, numerous art workshops, and knowledge-based productions. Kazi is a fellow of Art Think South Asia, 2019-2020.

Artists
Taiara Farhana Tareque, Biglipseclipse, Kawsar Mia, AAA battery, Orchid Chakma, Shamset Tabrejee, Razib Datta, Junaid Iqbal Ishmam, Shehzad Chowdhury, Oishik Jawad, Khyapa collective

Curators
Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo, Ata Mojlish, Aananda Antahleen, Doito Bonotulshi

Copyright: Goethe-Institut Bangladesh
May 2022