Convening a critical mass of artists, thinkers and participants, the fifth edition of the Dhaka Art Summit 2O2O: Seismic Movements will provoke us to reconsider (art) histories, movements, borders and fault lines. From 7 — 15 February 2O2O, Dhaka will be the epicentre of a radical upheaval of how we think about art, activated by intellectual and curatorial contributions and spanning four floors of the Shilpakala Academy in the city’s vibrant University belt. Built through alliances across Africa, Australia, South and Southeast Asia (and also extending into Europe and the US) this platform will be free to the public and include contributions by 500 individuals including artists, scholars, curators and collectives, gathering together for panel discussions, performances, and symposia as well as opportunities for participation from the 3OO,OOO+ visitors focused on one broad theme: what is a movement and how do we generate one outside the confines of an exhibition? Chief Curator Diana Campbell Betancourt says:
“An apt metaphor for the build-up of foyers of ideas end collaborations emerging across nearly a decade of activities at Samdani Art Foundation, seismic movements do not adhere to statist or nationalist frameworks. They join and split apart tectonics of multiple scales end foyers; their epicenters don’t privilege historical imperial centers over the so-called peripheries; they can accumulate slowly or violently erupt in on instant. DAY 2020 works across art, craft, architecture, design, research, and institution production to catalyse new forms of collaboration between artists, thinkers end its extensive end diverse audience.
