Broken Lens

Mixed-media installation 
Two-channel video (TV and projector), sound object, archival print as a counter gaze of the video and Bengali and English LED neon text
Exhibition: Body and the Map, curated by Sharmillie Rahman
Bengal Shilpalay, Dhaka, 2024

I conceptualized the framework for the work based on the experience of following incident.

The incident occurred in mid-August, 2024 when a cultural gathering was disrupted due to an attack by certain individuals. I witnessed this event firsthand. As I attempted to document the scene with my phone camera, my device was destroyed in the ensuing chaos. This confrontation deeply influenced me and became a key element in this body of work, where I integrated both the experience and the broken phone itself.

Broken Lens, installation view, Bengal Shilpalay, Dhaka, 2024

Broken Lens,  video still

A Bridge and Beyond the Bridge

Digital college and single-channel video

Ongoing project
Exhibition: Foundation Art Divvy and Shahnaz Art Gallery presents 'Legacies of Crossing',  
Shahnaz Art Gallery, London, UK curated by Zahra Khan 
Screening: Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin 'Histoire de famille',  CWB Paris, France

2024

  

 

            A Bridge and Beyond the Bridge, 2024, single channel video, 1080x1920

A Bridge and Beyond the Bridge, 2024, archival print

 The work delves into the intertwined narratives of familial relationships drifting apart, with a focus on the Kalurghat bridge spanning the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Built during British colonial rule in 1930, this bridge serves as a vital connection between the north and south of the greater Chattogram district, bisected by the Karnaphuli River. My family ancestry is rooted in south Chattogram, where this bridge historically facilitated communication between regions, bridging the gap from the region of British India. From the belt of my family ancestors, many left the southern part of Chattogram from the British period, particularly the partition period, to the Pakistan period and settled in different parts of this subcontinent. Then, during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, some people in Bangladesh-India border areas took shelter for some time and worked in various ways for the freedom of the country. From the post-independence period to the present time, many people from this southern region migrated to other countries outside the subcontinent for different purposes and reasons, including re-settlement in Chattogram City and Dhaka. These familial and local stories are not linear, and there is no relationship or communication as there used to be. not many products or objects. There are now only random stories, some blurry, ruined pictures, letters, and this bridge.

Through a layered approach, the work incorporates visual elements such as part of the bridge structure, archival family photographs of unrecognised significance, and excerpts from letters and texts, as well as a slight drawing, all digitally integrating into a collage. Complementing these visuals is a video featuring a female narrator, embodying the collective familial past. The narrative within the video is a fictionalised merge drawn from different stories and correspondences, further exploring familial history and connection.