Ashmolean Museum To Build Bangladeshi Art Collection

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford in the UK and Dhaka -based Samdani Art Foundation (SAF) have initiated a new collaboration focused on contemporary art from Bangladesh. This partnership will facilitate an annual visiting artist program at Oxford and enable the museum to establish a dedicated collection of contemporary Bangladeshi art.

Munem Wasif, an artist and curator based in Dhaka, has been selected as the inaugural participant in the Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist program. Wasif is currently spending two weeks at the museum, engaging with its collections and archives. His artistic practice integrates photography, moving image, archival materials, and found objects, frequently exploring themes of impermanence, insecurity, and memory. During his residency, Wasif will examine the colonial history of Bengal and consider how the museum's holdings might relate to his existing work.

The collaboration also provides the Ashmolean with an avenue to expand its holdings of contemporary art from Bangladesh. The museum will acquire works by Bangladeshi artists each year, in cooperation with SAF. It has already purchased pieces by Ashfika Rahman with the foundation's assistance. These new acquisitions will supplement the Ashmolean's existing collection of South Asian art, which the museum states is among the most extensive in the UK outside of London. Additionally, the museum will collaborate with SAF on research into Bangladesh's contemporary art scene.

Mallica Kumbera Landrus, curator of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art at the Ashmolean, stated that the SAF partnership would strengthen the museum's connections with artists from Bangladesh.“The museum has remarkable collections from across South Asia, and this partnership gives us an exciting opportunity to develop that story through contemporary Bangladeshi art and artists,” she noted.

This program builds upon SAF's 15 years of dedicated work supporting artists and cultural initiatives in Bangladesh, as well as creating opportunities for artists to work internationally. Established by Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani, the foundation has supported projects such as the Dhaka Art Summit and the Samdani Art Award. Nadia Samdani, SAF's president, commented that the partnership would extend this work into a new institutional context.“We are proud to see this vision take shape at a world-leading institution,” she said.

The foundation recently supported the first UK solo museum exhibition by a Bangladesh -based artist, with Soma Surovi Jannat presenting her work at the Ashmolean in March 2026. Jannat was the recipient of the 2020 Samdani Art Award. Furthermore, SAF has announced a partnership with the Kunsthalle Basel for the Samdani Art Award in November 2026, where eight finalists will participate in Regionale 27 alongside artists from the Basel region. In Bangladesh, the foundation operates Srihatta, the Samdani Art Centre and Sculpture Park in Sylhet. This center hosts artist residencies and community projects and is a founding member of Photosynthesis, an international residency network supported by the Getty Foundation. Its first Photosynthesis residency at Srihatta is scheduled to commence in December 2026 with Indian interdisciplinary artist Himali Singh Soin.

Source: ARTnews

MENAFN30092026005694012507ID1111742648