An Ecological Worldview: Tanzim Wahab on Curation and Education in a Post-Pandemic Era
Recorded on 26 June 2021.
For Tanzim Wahab, the pandemic has provided an opportunity for unlearning. In this episode of ASAP Cast, the writer and curator considers the importance of dismantling the power structures between artists and curators in order to create a more inviting art space. Based in Bangladesh, Wahab sees curation as akin to gardening. It is never only about the art work—the space, the audience and the pulse of the time have to be considered before creating the ecosystem of the exhibition. This, he believes, makes for a horizontal space where communities can connect and reconnect, allowing for more intuitive and sensorial learning. A realisation of this curatorial vision can be seen in his work at Chobi Mela. The latest edition—which took place in February 2021—was called Chobi Mela (0) to rethink its relevance and reimagine its place in a post-Covid world. This self-reflective, unlearning process extends even to retrospectives of established artists, where Wahab ensures that he leaves space for the youth to engage with iconic works.
A lecturer at the Pathshala / South Asian Media Institute, Wahab quickly adapted to digital spaces for teaching and curating during the pandemic. However, he rues the loss of physicality and connection in this time. He misses being together in a space, handling prints, sharing food and ideas with his students. This reinforces the idea of seeing art production as an ecosystem and foregrounding the body in experiencing art.
Along with Munem Wasif, Wahab has published two Bengali anthologies titled Kamra, on photographic history and theory. As the world moves forward into a post-pandemic era, it becomes important to understand local knowledge and older technology—not as nostalgia, but as offering alternative ways of seeing the world. While the modern and contemporary art world of Bangladesh is largely centred in Dhaka, he believes that the most vibrant literary movements exist outside the capital.
A photographer himself, Wahab does not ascribe to the false dichotomy of the curator as academic versus the curator as artist. He prefers instead to focus on how disparate backgrounds influence curatorial practice and how we can be a collective even with differences in practice.
(Featured Image: Performance by Zihan Karim as part of Chobi Mela [0]. Photograph by Shadman Sakib. Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 2021. Image courtesy of Chobi Mela.)
To read more about Chobi Mela (0), please click here, here and here.
The ASAP Cast series is supported by the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts.
