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Back ART Foundation

Founded in 2013, Back ART Foundation emerged as a bold, artist-led initiative committed to expanding the boundaries of contemporary art in Bangladesh. In a landscape where independent artistic ventures are rare, the foundation began with the aim of bridging traditional heritage with modern culture—fostering collaboration, experimentation, and visibility for emerging artists.

Back ART Foundation champions a vision of art as a transformative force—a vehicle for rethinking identity, history, community, and social change. It offers a dynamic platform for experimental, performative, and interdisciplinary practices that are often overlooked by conventional art institutions. Through exhibitions, residencies, workshops, and public art projects, Back ART creates vital spaces where artists can engage deeply with contemporary concerns while drawing from local knowledge, rural life, and indigenous mythologies.

The name Back ART originates from the founders’ university days, when their backpacks carried not only tools and artworks but also dreams and ideas. Symbolically, it also refers to “bringing back” native art—reviving folklore, rituals, and traditional forms within contemporary art practice. This ethos is at the heart of their ongoing rural residency program, ‘Native Myth’, which invites artists to engage with local communities and landscapes.

Back ART Foundation is deeply committed to supporting emerging and underrepresented artists, particularly by bringing art into public spaces and encouraging interdisciplinary approaches. Its projects explore pressing themes like climate change, urbanization, migration, memory, and language—blending art with science, performance, and social research.

Art Projects by Back ART Foundation

  • Dhaka Live Art Biennale (D’LAB): A bi-annual international festival dedicated to performance art and live practices.

  • Native Myth: A rural artist residency focused on indigenous narratives, rituals, and folk knowledge.

  • BIO-NET-WORK: An online-based exhibition platform launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to sustain artistic dialogue and collaboration.

  • Nature vs Nature: A research-driven project addressing climate change through artistic inquiry.

  • Urban HOURS: A public art series exploring the impact of urbanization.

  • ART & SCIENCE: Interactive workshops with school students blending creativity and scientific curiosity.

  • SONGLAAP: A series of performative workshops fostering embodied storytelling and collective memory.