Arrow

Single-channel video and photographs, 2023
Solo Exhibition: Of Fragments

Curated by Sharmillie Rahman
Kalakendra, Lalmatia, Dhaka

 

 

Single-channel video screening, Kalakendra, Dhaka

Counter gaze of the video

Photographs (2 pieces), 33 X 24 in 2023

Arrow, an imaginative piece, mirrors society's tumultuous movement with anarchy, reacting to its ever-changing social and political landscape. With twists and turns, chaos reigns, giving birth to uproar, as if the very essence of anarchy is brought to life. Amidst this chaos, a performative act emerges—a symphony of noise giving birth to an uproar. It is a performance in front of the changing television screens, collectively with voice and soundscapes that evoke an absurd sensorial experience.

'Palash’s deep-rooted fear and sense of insecurity resurfaces with every single stroke drawn on the surface of the TV screen as a signification of negation. Contesting and fictionalizing the dynamics of simulation Palash posits an antithesis of absence, or in other words conjures up a presence; presence of all those who fell victim to various means of disappearance. This is “Arrow’’ in a nutshell.'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    -Sharmillie Rahman

                                                                                                      Writer, curator

 Video still

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ID

LED neon and two-channel video installation with sound
19th Asian Art Biennale, National Art Gallery, Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka 
Materials: LED neon , red carpet, wooden frame and two TV

I developed a self-examined method for this work based on my everyday encounters with social and national identification and verification. Here, two words in Bengali 'দরকারি কাগজপত্র' and the words translated into English, 'Documents Required,'  are shown in the center of the wall in LED neon to show the tendency toward verification. The opposite of those texts is a red carpet on the floor, followed by two videos on two TV sets, both responding to the central texts, with one video showing typing letters and the other showing blurry fingerprints.

Photo Courtesy: Sheik Nafi Hassan

Video sample