As the first of its kind in Bangladesh, Britto has become an important alternative platform for artists’. The organisation encourages experimentation and the development of new ideas in the visual arts, through activities that support emerging artists and bring new contemporary art to the local community. Britto’s main objective is to facilitate dialogue and exchange opportunities for artists, encourage the development of high quality art work and create a platform for critical discourse and interaction between artists from the region, as well as different parts of the world. Britto supports and encourages experimentation within a diverse range of media and develops new ways of thinking beyond the religious, economic, ethnic and political divisions in Bangladesh and internationally.
Britto New Media Festival 2009 perfectly exemplifies Britto’s experimental ethos. Including nine international artists, seven artists from Bangladesh and one partner agency, this New Media Festival was organized and curated by the artists Tayeba Begum Lipi & Mahbubur Rahman in October 2009.
Being the most ambitious exhibition ever organised by Britto and the first New Media festival of its kind in Bangladesh, this Festival, has been a groundbreaking event. It attracted the interest of many students and young artists whom, as a consequence, have started to consider the advantages of incorporating technology in their works.
Since opportunity to travel abroad is rather limited in Bangladesh, interested artists/viewers were able to see original work of international artists from India, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Germany, South Africa, France, Canada and Hong Kong, all in one place. Therefore, this was an amazing opportunity to share knowledge with those artists who are technically sound but perhaps misled in the approach of their ideas.
Since both galleries - Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka and National Gallery, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (Academy of Fine and Performing Arts), Dhaka - provided free entrance to the audience, many viewers repeatedly visited and spent several hours in the galleries. The information room provided basic information about the artists and content of the works that were displayed on large boards with pasted printed sticker paper, a strategy that is completely new to the arts audience in Bangladesh.
The artists invited to the workshop that was organized prior to the festival and the lecturers who came for the symposium made a huge impact through their exchange of ideas and interaction with the local artists.
The workshop entitled “Rough Cuts” was particularly successful. Both the local and international artists showed great enthusiasm and excitement as they traveled together through the older part of Dhaka city for several days. During this brief trip the artists had the opportunity to engage in dialogues about New Media Art and also shared experiences, knowledge and ideas during the workshop.
The presentation and display of each work in both galleries provided a new dimension to the Bangladesh art scene. For the event, the galleries were reorganized and re-constructed to some extent, something that is unusual to the art connoisseurs here.
From the beginning to the end, this ambitious project was a great challenge for Britto Arts Trust, motivating the members of the organization to take on similar challenges in the future.