Performance Art and Body-Based Practices in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, performance art has grown into an expressive genre that cuts across various domains of art. This development stems from the country's history of conflict and its diverse traditions. This art form and its corporeal practices become mechanisms of negotiating oneself, one's history, gender, politics, and the act of resistance. These practices treat the body as a medium and a vehicle of narrative—dance, gesture, and even stillness perform.

Historical Roots and Evolution

While international recognition of contemporary performance art emerged in the 1960s and 70s, its recognition in Bangladesh is much more recent. But even within the time frame, its origins can be found within the innate traditions of ritualistic performances, as well as folk theatre. Within the folk traditions of Baul songs, Gombhira, Pala Gaan, and Jatra, the body has served as a vehicle for moral, spiritual, and political messages for centuries. These art forms from the past encouraged new creative exploration with the body in more recent times.

The start of the 1990s heralded a new era of performance art in Bangladesh. After the new wave of democracy and the establishment of new artistic groups, the new generation of artists began to explore beyond the traditional boundaries of art space and materials. Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, for instance, helped foster an experimental ethos through a series of workshops and exhibitions alongside international visits and exchanges. The shift was now from art making to ideation, where art was considered a process rather than a product.

Body as a Site of Expression

Bangladeshi performance artists comment on social, political, and environmental issues through the performance of their own bodies. The body, which is fundamental to one's identity and culture, becomes a place of struggle and freedom. There is a certain degree of intimacy in how artists examine personal histories within the context of multiple collective memories in which they use endurance, repetition, and silence as ways to engage the audience.

For example, Firoz Mahmud, Mithu Sen, and Reetu Sattar are a few artists who have worked on performative installations and live acts addressing displacement, gender, and the politics of representation. Reetu Sattar's "Harano Sur" (Lost Tune) is one of the most important body-based performances in the contemporary Bangladeshi art scene. In the performance mentioned above, Sattar was able to use repetitive motion, sound, and musical instruments to redefine loss, memory, and the disappearance of politics and the self, as well as disappearance and resilience.

Performing, Practicing, and Collaborating

Having the Dhaka Art Summit, Britto Arts Trust, and Back ART Foundation, among others, are the reasons we have the most developed performance art in the country. These spaces, Britto, especially, is the first artist in Bangladesh to start performance art workshops and residencies, working with artists from the country and abroad.

Running performance art festivals and a series of live performances in public spaces like Dhaka and Chattogram have definitely enhanced the interaction. The participants and artists live in these spaces, like on the streets, in abandoned buildings, and in other urban-designed spaces. This new model of art practice undoes the traditional gallery model and changes the perception of art reception in Bangladesh.

Themes and Concerns

Often in Bangladesh, performance art is politically motivated. Artists focus on gender violence, migration, climate change, and censorship. Movement becomes protest as the struggles and protests of ignored communities are reformed and stories rebuilt. Women, especially, have used the body as a means of power and defiance against the patriarchal world, challenging the restrictive norms of permitted visibility and femininity.

Anger and concern for the environment have also spurred performance works revealing the dual fragility of the body and the environment. The pollution of urban rivers, disappearing wetlands, and urban sprawl, as well as the decay of the city, all link ecological destruction to human suffering.

The Future of Performance Art in Bangladesh

With ongoing globalization in Bangladesh, the country rests on the dynamic intersection of Sambhark cultural and 'new performance' technology, while the performance scene remains ongoing. Artists continue to reframe and redefine forms of "live art" as spaces are increasingly accessible through digital technology and platforms. The core focus, however, remains unchanged–the body as a sensitive, historical, and ever-changing vessel of living memories and archives.

In Bangladesh, performance art is not only about a grand display. Rather, it is a conversation between the performer, the surrounding space, and the spectators. It reflects the heartbeat of the evolving country, where every motion and pause takes on a role of its own and becomes a reflection of survival.