Belonging in Bangladesh

The exhibit Eyes on Bangladesh, albeit small, was not lacking in its visual rendering of a complex and beautiful culture. While I know little of the history or culture of Bangladesh, many of the works on display gave me a snapshot of what life is like in the chaotic—yet beautiful—country.

I was particularly attracted by the visual narrative Belonging, by Munem Wasif. I felt he successfully translated the nuances of the people of old Dhaka, from the stoic expression of a man getting his beard trimmed to those animated by a chaotic street festival, into an intricate story that portrays the overwhelming sense of community and tradition in the antiquated part of an otherwise modernizing city.

Munem’s photographs translate what would likely be prosaic day-to-day scenes, to visual “poems” that capture the melding of public and private life in Puran Dhaka. Munem’s artistic interpretation is particularly striking in a scene where a man seems to be simply cleaning out metal bowls in the street. Instead of using this mundane activity as a documentation of the “struggles of an impoverished city” or some convoluted idea of social repression in old Dhaka, Munem seems to to propagate its intrinsic beauty. In my perspective the photograph plays out like a beautifully intricate ballad; the man’s body language framed by bold contrasts which are artfully matched in his surroundings, and the birds composed like dancers around the water, comprises a chaotic but well-harmonized scene. In this, I believe Munem was able to capture the essence of old Dhaka, and allowed spectators like myself to understand (and even feel part of) the foreign traditions of Bangladesh.

Image sources:

http://www.munemwasif.com/