NEWS ROOM
Heritage Bangladesh Foundation’s First Symposium on ‘Decolonizing Heritage Exhibition’
(Architectural Heritage, Craft and the Cultural Landscape of South Asia)
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This online symposium “Decolonizing Heritage Exhibition,” is organized by ‘Heritage Bangladesh Foundation’ (HBF), in association with ‘The Society of Architecture and Urban Historians of Asia’ (SAUHA) was held on 29 August 2020 at 6pm (GMT +6). The three and a half hour long webinar exploring the exhibition of cultural heritage was inaugurated by Niharika Momtaz, the founder of Heritage Bangladesh Foundation as well as a designer, art aficionado and a curator. Heritage Bangladesh Foundation was set up to document, conserve, study, explore, restore and promote architectural heritage as well as textile, craft and cultural heritages of Bangladesh. Niharika started off by exploring the rich antiquity of handloom weaving industry of Bangladesh, particularly focusing on the revival of ‘Jamdani’ and ‘katan’. Eight distinguished speakers from various disciplinary background and geographic location further took the discussion ahead encompassing their overarching renditions dotted throughout various topics. The discussion was divided into two separate panels; (Panel 1: Decolonize Exhibiting Art and Craft/Textile) and (Panel 2: Decolonize Exhibiting Architectural Heritage and Cultural Landscape) explored topics such as Decolonizing the Exhibitionary Complex, Symbiosis of Creative Economy and Habitat, Decolonizing the Ground of Heritage, Looking Through and Looking At: Rethinking the Customary Display of Cultural Properties, Community Engagement for Cultural Preservation, etc.
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Eminent artist and art historian Iftikhar Dadi (Associate Professor and Director of South Asia Program, Cornell University) from the first panel looked at some of the tensions in the conception of craft through the frame of reference of the book that was published in 1908 by Ananda Coomaraswamy, The Mediaeval Sinhalese Art. He also talked about the question of time and its relation to heritage. Next, Architect and planner Dilip da Cunha, Adjunct Professor, Columbia University who was one of the four speakers from panel two addressed the ground of heritage. He drew attention to the earth’s surface as a product of colonization and introduced the concepts and possibilities of the water bodies. The history and detailedanalysis of his topic of discussion is described in his recent book, The Invention of Rivers: Alexander' Eye and Ganga' Descent, published by University of Pennsylvania Press in 2019. The other distinguished panelists in the discussion were, FarhanKarim, Associate Professor, University of Kansas and President of SAUH Asia, Mainak Ghosh, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Jadavpur University, India, Huda Mohammed Faisal, Ph.D. Student, Kyushu University, Japan, Dr. Abu Sayeed M Ahmed, Dean, School of Environmental Sciences and Design, University of Asia Pacific,Ishita Shah, Independent Practitioner (Designer, Historian, Curator) and Labib Hossain, Ph.D. Candidate, Cornell University.
Full information and the video regarding the symposium can be found on the Facebook page of the Heritage Bangladesh Foundation. The symposium was sponsored by fashion designer Niharika Momtaz, the Founder of 1972, Outliner, Zenana, Bangladesh Art Week and Heritage Bangladesh Foundation.