Dhaka Live Art Biennale (D’LAB) is a pioneering project by the Back ART Foundation, produced and organized by its dedicated team. For this historic edition, Back ART invited both national and international performance artists through an open call, selecting practitioners deeply engaged with the live arts. The curatorial theme—“How the Body Traces Language and Culture: Profiles of Performativity”—offered a conceptual framework that explored embodiment, identity, and cultural expression. A total of 33 artists from 13 countries participated, marking Bangladesh’s first-ever large-scale live art biennale.

This edition was a significant step forward for the contemporary art movement in Bangladesh, envisioning a future where art lives closer to people—interwoven with local narratives and global conversations.

Though performance art is a relatively young discipline within Bangladesh’s art history—introduced in the 1980s—it has since evolved into a powerful medium of dialogue and presence. Over the last five years, it has gained popularity as an expressive and critical form. Numerous events and workshops have enabled artists to explore the body’s role in navigating lived realities. With the body and its environment as living materials, performance art has redefined how artists connect with their audiences—making it one of the most dynamic and resonant practices in the country today.