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Visual Arts

Art Mediation workshop as lead-up to Dhaka Art Summit 2018

Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) continues its long-term partnership with Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council to deliver an Art Mediation workshop.

The workshop scheduled to be held from 1 – 7 October 2017 in Dhaka will be The workshop will be conducted by Dr. Rachel Mader, Head of the Competence Centre for Art and Design in Public Space, and Lena Eriksson from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts /  HSLU, Lucerne.

Mediator-Training Workshop
Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) will act as a ground where audiences not trained in art criticism or contemporary art contexts are able to bring their own discourses and modes of understanding, and are able to take cultural ownership in what is often a daunting space. Creating an effective mediation program is central to this agenda.

The workshop will be conducted by Dr. Rachel Mader, Head of the Competence Centre for Art and Design in Public Space, and Lena Eriksson Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts /  HSLU, Lucerne , as well as by 2-3 students and members of the Samdani Artist-Led Initiatives Forum in October’17 using the module developed in the course of the residency in Lucerne in May/July ’17, with Dr. Mader. The workshop will run for 1 week, throughout which the mediators will develop toolkits specifically for DAS, which will also include the guide-book, and these core art mediators will run the mediation during DAS 2018.

The aim of involving artists’ initiatives is to encourage cultural ownership among newly-trained mediators, enabling them to become cultural stakeholders. During DAS 2018, the art mediators will have a session every 2 days to reflect on their mediation, share ideas, obstacles and discuss areas in which they could be more effective. The mediators will document their process through social media and after will share their experience through blog posts as the outcome of the process.

About Dhaka Art Summit
The Dhaka Art Summit (DAS) is an international, non-commercial research and exhibition platform for art and architecture related to South Asia. With a core focus on Bangladesh, DAS re-examines how we think about these forms of art in both a regional and an international context. Founded in 2012 by the Samdani Art Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, DAS is hosted every two years at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Rejecting the traditional biennale format to create a more generative space for art and exchange, DAS’s interdisciplinary programme concentrates its endeavours towards the advancement and promotion of South Asia’s contemporary and historic creative communities.

Image: Solo Projects, Haroon Mirza, installation view of The National Apavilion of Then and Now / Dhaka Art Summit
Photo credit: Noor Photoface