Gidree Bawlee Foundation of Arts wins Asia Arts Future Award 2023

The Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India was held amidst much fanfare on 10 February in Delhi, said a press release.

Bangladesh's Gidree Bawlee Foundation of Arts received the Asia Arts Future Award 2023 at an event hosted by the Asia Society India Centre last week. This Foundation was was founded in 2001 by Kamruzzaman Shadhin and co-run by Salma Jamal Moushum. It is a community-based arts organisation that runs various creative programmes and research work in the village of Balia in Thakurgaon, Bangladesh.

Through its social practice and community-focused activities, the organisation strives to create a balanced influence in the artistic process and develop artworks and projects that respond to local history, culture, and the environment. 

The event was attended by a diverse group of artists, curators, collectors, gallerists, business leaders, and institutional heads from around the world. The evening was made possible by the generous support of co-chairs, award partners, collaborators, volunteers, and hospitality partners.

Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF) has been supporting this award category for the last three years as the title sponsor. 

In 2020, DBF collaborated with Gidree Bawlee Art Foundation, to create the "Bhumi" project.

This project supported traditional crafts and workers in the Thakurgaon District during the Covid-19 pandemic and is now displayed at the Fifth Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Fort Kochi, India. 

Additionally, DBF funded another exhibition with Gidree Bawlee Director Kamruzzaman Shadhin, titled "The Elephant in the Room," which was hosted at the US Embassy and the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka in 2020/21 and exhibited in D3 space during Art Dubai 2021. 

Gidree Bawlee has been working with DBF on various projects since 2019, and Kamruzzaman Shadhin is the participant in the organisation's first Majhi Art Residency Project in 2019 in Venice, Italy.