At the Brihatta Art Foundation in the capital’s Hazaribagh, an exclusive solo exhibition of Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen titled "Dream of Human Nature" began on Saturday.
The interactive exhibition, organised and hosted by Brihatta Art Foundation and curated by renowned Bangladeshi artist and art educator Bishwajit Goswami, is a convergence of art, science and community that invites visitors to actively discover nature as a library of knowledge.
With this exhibition, the visiting Belgian artist Vanmechelen unveils the essence of his ongoing Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (CCP). The project is an ongoing trans-disciplinary art project starting in the late 1990s which aims to create a hybrid of “all races of chicken in the world.”
This exclusive exhibition is an invitation to learn more from nature regarding the existence of human beings and how people can dream and create a more sustainable future.
Brihatta Art Foundation, a research-based young artist-run platform based in Dhaka with a strong focus on community development and collaboration, invited Koen Vanmechelen for this fall exhibition. Vanmechelen has been working for over 20 years at the intersection of art, community, and science.
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His passion is based on the belief in art as a driver of mutual understanding and as a guide in the search for answers to the significant challenges of the 21st century, the relationship between nature and culture, and, in particular, the development of sustainable communities.
"I embrace my role as an artist in shaping a harmonious world,” Vanmechelen stated regarding the exhibition. “The exhibition's intricate tapestry celebrates humanity's diversity, inspiring us to cherish our dreams with a mindful perspective of our nature.”
“In this convergence of art, science, and community, I find hope for a future built on unity and understanding. And I hope visitors will experience the same," he said.
Vanmechelen is thrilled to exhibit in Bangladesh for the first time, saying, "It is a fascinating place of ancient civilisations and enormous biocultural hybridity. Through genetics and collaborative art, the exhibition reflects our interconnectedness and calls for sustainable coexistence.”
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