The space will include a 100-acre sculpture park and a vast gallery devoted to South Asian art

A rural tea district in Bangladesh may soon become a major destination for contemporary art fiends. As Gareth Harris reports for The Art Newspaper, a pair of prominent Bangladeshi art collectors has announced plans to build an expansive new museum on a sprawling property in Sylhet, a city in northeastern Bangladesh. The Srihatta-Samdani Art Centre and Sculpture Park strives to be a hub for modern art, with a special focus on the work of Bangladeshi and South Asian artists.

Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani, influential collectors who have been credited with drawing attention to Bangladesh’s contemporary arts scene, are the visionaries behind the project. The couple previously established the Samdani Art Foundation, a private arts trust based in Dhaka, and the Dhaka Art Summit, a biennial exhibition devoted to the art and architecture of South Asia.

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Preliminary plans for the project describe a vast, dreamy landscape. According to a press statement,1 the institution will encompass a 100-acre sculpture park set against the backdrop of India’s Assam Hills, long stretches of walkways made of Kota stone, 10,000 square feet of artist residency spaces, and a 5,000 square-foot gallery with towering ceilings and an “undulating brick façade.”

The gallery was designed by the Bangladeshi architect Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, and a number of local artists—among them Zihan Karim and Ayesha Sultana— are already scheduled to inaugurate the new space.

  • 1. The Samdani Art Foundation (SAF) is pleased to announce the Foundation’s forthcoming permanent art space in Bangladesh: Srihatta—Samdani Art Centre and Sculpture Park. Located approximately 250km from the capital of Dhaka in the rural tea district of Sylhet, Srihatta sprawls across over 100 acres of landscape with views of India’s Assam Hills in the distance. The park’s expansive grounds will be devoted to the exhibition of sculpture, and punctuated by a phased rollout of multiple exhibition pavilions and a residency complex. The inaugural phase—set for late 2018—will include several commissions for the 100-acre sculpture park, 10,000 square feet of artist residency spaces, 10,000 square feet of plazas, and a 5,000-square-foot gallery designed by Dhaka-based Bangladeshi architect and 2016 Aga Khan Award winner Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, URBANA.

    The interwoven Animist, Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi mystic, and Islamic histories that inform Sylhet’s plurality and distinct language remain powerfully visible in Bengali folk culture. Srihatta’s name is an homage to the multiple layers of history that have shaped this rich landscape; it is the ancient Indo-Aryan term for Sylhet. Envisioned as a dynamic art centre, Srihatta embraces inclusivity with a welcoming design, an accessible public programme, and outdoor public works. More than just a private art museum, Srihatta aspires to cultivate a new community of art lovers in Bangladesh and the surrounding region. As with all Samdani Art Foundation activities, entry to Srihatta will be free, in an attempt to make art widely accessible to diverse audiences.