Conceived as an overview of works by artists from Bangladesh and Cambodia from the Akar Prakar collection, Contours meditates on the individual narratives that drive the practices of the artists from the regions.

The Cambodian Civil War and the Bangladesh Liberation War during the 70s have given birth to a generation of artists dealing with the aftermath. The artists in the exhibition have experimented with their postwar identities. While some of their visual imageries are a reflection of their social and political identities as seen in works by Leang Seckon, Mahbabur Rehman, Tejosh Halder Josh and Tayeba Begum Lipi. 

Practices of artists Manir Mrittik, Marzia Farhana, Najmun Nahar Keya, Yasmin Jahan Nupur and Yim Maline have devised their own narratives separate with a focus on art historiography & interpretations and ecology & community.

The presence of geographical borders might categorise the artists to be ‘foreign’, but they share a common past and history with India. The world today has afforded us an opportunity for amoebic exchanges of knowledge and cultural practices. 

This exhibition aims to promote such exchanges by showcasing these visual encounters, in their most organic and fragmented form.