Art exhibition ‘Death Sentence’ underway at Bengal Shilpalay
The art exhibition titled ‘Death Sentence’ is under way at the Bengal Shilpalay in the capital Dhaka.
Curated and researched by Jewel A Rob, under the Bengal Foundation’s Subir Choudhury Curatorial Practice Grant, art works by five artists Anisuzzaman Sohel, Emran Sohel, Promotesh Das Pulak, Najmun Nahar Keya and Shimul Datta, are featured in the exhibition.
Alliance Française de Dhaka director Francois Grosjean was present as the chief guest and inaugurated the exhibition while renowned artist and art-writer Mustafa Zaman was present as special guest at the inaugural ceremony held on February 15, 2024.
The concept of the ‘Death Sentence’ project is crafted around the curator’s empathetic perspective and reaction to artists’ engagement in the design and aesthetics of weapons and war machines.
It investigates historical processes and the curiously inverted relationship between death and aesthetics. The thought-provoking show draws on the practice of five artists who have looked at the questions critically.
The practice/curatorial grant was initiated by Bengal Foundation in 2015 to commemorate Subir Choudhury, director, artist and arts organizer. Invited through an open call, Jewel A Rob’s research proposal was selected for the Subir Choudhury Curatorial Practice Grant (SCCPG) in 2018.
Curatorial Statement:
The ‘Death Sentence’ project is derived from a study of the process of war and killing. Over the ages, people have engaged in warfare, death and destruction for a multitude of reasons ranging from the personal to the socio-political-ideological, as well as civil and military affairs, and ideas of power, nationhood, ethnicity and statehood, among others. New laws, rules and regulations, policies, have evolved along with new methods of killing. The leap in refinement of weapons from the Stone Age to the modern day went hand in hand with the advancement of scientific, engineering and technological knowledge and skills. Artistic ability, creativity and imaginative skill associated with the design of weapons did not lag behind either. Death and aesthetics seem to coexist in this regard, in a macabre inverse link. The cross, brazen bulls, or the rat torture box are all instruments designed to carry out the death penalty. They were widely used by conquerors and power-wielders of almost every denomination, notwithstanding pirates with their exquisitely crafted firearms, handguns, or daggers. Later, humans devised lethal injections, handguns, gas chambers, electric shock chairs, nuclear bombs, grenades, and missiles. Technology made it possible to design smarter and sleeker tanks, ammunition, armaments, ships, copters, and bombers. The conjunct role of art in the creation of special instruments for execution, death and destruction, has been repeatedly critiqued. Such instruments have been used to establish dominant positions, demonstrate power, and uphold dogmas, and occasionally, also used to expand artistic practice.
This exhibition will try to present the argument that rather than being an artistic endeavour intended to offer delight to humanity, art has also, on occasion, been used, either wilfully or unintentionally, to aid in killing.
The show is a window into the thoughts of five contemporary artists. The questions that have surfaced are – to what degree are designers and artists affected by cruelty and inhumanity? In what ways does it give? What role do the war machine industry and complex diplomatic strategies, play in the contemporary world? Are our emotional centres gradually becoming numb?
Curator: Jewel A. Rob
Photo Courtesy: Bengal Foundation
Exhibition Information:
Subir Choudhury Curatorial Practice Grant Exhibition: Death Sentence
From: February 15 to March 30, 2024
(Open from 4:00pm to 8:00 PM except on Sundays)
Bengal Shilpalay. Level 1, House 42. Road 27
Shekh Kamal Sarani. Dhanmondi. Dhaka 1209