About Porapara
Established : In 2004 .Founders: Mahbubur Rahman and Abu Naser Robii.
Operating member: Mr.Joydev Roaza
Lucky Barua, Tayeba Begum Lipi
Previous Activities:
Workshop: 5 artists’ workshops.Residency: Partly organized 3 residencies with students around the country.Exhibition: 1 workshop Outcome Exhibition in the cit y of Chittagong.Community projects: 3 Projects (once in a year) with the local community.Artists’ talk: Several artists’ talks of local artists and 3 presentations of foreign artists.
Porapara Space for Artists’
(Artist-run non-profit private initiative for practicing visual artists)
Porapara Space for Artists was founded in 2004. Porapara is situated in the village of Charbasthi, next to the Chittagong Sha-Amanat International Airport and near the sea beach of Bay of Bengal and Karnaphuli river.
Porapara is an artist-run initiative with a mission to provide basic logistical, mediation and production support for emerging artists. In its first 3 years of operation the space has run community projects with local village people, as well as with artists from around the country and abroad. We have organized workshops, residency programs, an exhibition, public art projects and artists’ talks. Porapara is a platform for public communication through artistic activity.
Bangladeshi contemporary artists are in great need of alternative spaces for experimental and research work, in order to develop the visual arts in Bangladesh both nationally and internationally. We critically need more exchange programs (workshops, residencies) within the country as well as internationally, to develop cultural experiences and ideas. These kinds of exchanges are a powerful and proven medium to construct cultural bridges between practitioners from different backgrounds and nations. Therefore, our aim is to develop the space of Porapara with adequate resources for artists’ research, workshop and studio facilities.
Porapara already has accommodation for two artists and one common studio space, very basically equipped. Our plan is to expand and add studios with multimedia, ceramic and print-making facilities; as well as accommodation for five artists to stay and work for short periods. Since 2004, Porapara has been established, developed and supported almost entirely by our own money. As practicing artists in Bangladesh, we have extremely limited funds to develop Porapara to an international level.
We currently are seeking funding for 2 key elements of the project, the media studio and the additional 2 residency space
goals of project:
Context
Contemporary art in Bangladesh is at a crossroads. There are many good ingredients in the country – abundant young artists, the natural environment, cultural diversity within regions - but the resources are simply not available anywhere in the country to realize this potential. We need to develop real infrastructure and facilities to enable the potential of the visual arts in Bangladesh.
We know that contemporary art around the world is flourishing with conceptual intelligence and creative exploration. As a South Asian developing country we want to be a part of this movement. Despite our obvious limitations of huge poverty, high population and capacity for natural disasters, we believe we can use our local experiences positively as a catalyst for artistic development.
Porapara
The Porapara space for artists is dedicated to empowering young and experimental energies in visual art; and to the application of art for the larger social purpose via engaging with the general public through artistic activity.
Porapara was founded to address an almost total lack in Bangladesh – even in the major cities – of functional space for artistic encounter of all kinds: that is, for meetings, presentations, discussion and the exhibition of work that falls outside the limited conventions of the current gallery system.
As Porapara’s founders and practicing Bangladeshi artists ourselves, we have a broad experience of the contemporary international art world, and of the current situation amongst Bangladeshi art institutions, galleries and practitioners. We also have strong connections in the village community around Porapara, where Abu Naser Robii has lived and worked for over 30 years.
The Porapara project aims to provide space for encounter between urban and rural knowledge systems - a place where city-based artists can come for concentrated research, production and discourse; and a platform to share dialogue, art and understanding with locals in the village. We have initiated a number of activities of this nature at Porapara already, with great success.
We aim
- to arrange and run well-equipped facilities for production and experimentation to artists and researchers.
- to establish and nurture a strong network amongst artists and art organizations, at home and abroad.
- to operate a printing and publishing resource for artists and the local society.
- to provide a source of comprehensive information about the international contemporary art world to local artists and art-lovers.
- to enable a channel for decentralization of artistic activity outside of the capital and its institutions.
- to involve the villagers and rural society in an active engagement with the activity of art.
We are especially concerned to integrate a high awareness of natural and biological systems, ecology and local habitat at all levels of development of the space.
Brief description of project
The space is situated in the district of Chittagong on 7000 sq feet of its own land, with basic residency accommodation. The property includes a garden area and large pond adjacent to the residency house. While rural in atmosphere, the space is surrounded by the local village and is conveniently located for access from Chittagong International Airport.
The proposed development of the project will encompass the following additions:Residency space for total of 5 artists
Media production studio
Print-making studio
Equipped common studio for technical works
Silkscreen studio
Ceramic studio
Alternative gallery and gathering spaces
Information and documents archive and library
Current Facilities (2004-2007)
Residency space
Porapara currently has space for 2 residential artists, with basic, unequipped studio, sleeping area and separate bathroom and kitchen. We are in the process of developing this residential facility to accommodate 3 artists in total (estimated completion of work by March 2008).
Print studioThis studio provides facilities for print media, including etching, aquatint, linocut, serigraph, and other experimental technical work related to print. We have already developed the studio space for print media and installed an etching/aquatint printer and some relevant accessories. We expect the facility to be accessible for artists from March 2008.
We currently seek funding to expand the residence to accommodate 5 artists altogether, so we plan to build a new house for an additional 2 artists.
Construction of the new residence house will be based on local and traditional house-building methods – our intention is to match the architectural style with the local village atmosphere, but also to ensure adequate modern facilities for the comfort of artists and technical equipment.
Media art studioIn Chittagong and around the country, media art, including video and experimental digital work, is just starting to develop as a practice. Our art institutions blatantly lack the curriculum, staff experience and technical facilities to support it. A very few artists have been able to independently organize equipment for collective use, but it is very difficult to access these resources for any degree of experimental production.
There are many artists in Bangladesh who want to work with electronic media but are prevented by the severely limited access to relevant technologies. We therefore see it as vital to arrange a proper studio set up for media art in our space. As the rural environment of Porapara provides an ideal situation for quiet, concentrated production, the residency space will be able to supply both the environmental conditions and the technical apparatus to open up these new media for experimentation by a new generation of artists.
We have already started to collect the necessary studio equipment including a HDV video camera, laptop and digital stills camera, financed from our own funds. We now need to set up a digital editing workstation and other peripheral equipment, and to build clean and secure studio space for this sensitive setup.
Future Development Planned (2009)
Common studio for metal wood and experimental materials
A critical part of the studio space, the common studio will address the problems local artists regularly encounter in sourcing the basic logistical utilities to produce their work. The common studio will consist of a shared workspace equipped with essential tools for a variety of media including wood, metal and synthetic media. We plan to construct a shed (30ft × 20ft) to house the studio and have already bought some tools to equip it.
Silk screen studio
We have developed a design for a fully-equipped brick and iron structure (22ft × 15ft) which we plan to develop in 2009.
Ceramic studio
We are committed to also provide access to media that are inexpensive to produce yet supply expansive opportunities for visual expression. We plan to set up a simple ceramic kiln for experimental ceramic and raku work, using traditional burning processes.
Gallery space
There is no space currently in Bangladesh supporting the experimental display of artworks beyond traditionally positioned painting and sculpture, so it is very difficult for artists to experiment with the exhibition format, or to show work produced in non-traditional media. This severely limits options for both artists and audiences to experience a range of contemporary artforms. We plan to establish a gallery to serve those artists seeking the opportunity for experimentation within the gallery space.
Information and documents archive + library
Dedicated space for books, periodicals, internet access, for researchers and resident artists,
Methodology / Implementation of projectThe project will set up one Residency space for 5 artists
Media work studio
Print making studio
Equipped common studio for metal wood and experimental materials
Silk screen studio
Ceramic studio
Public gathering space
Experimental gallery space
Workshop space
Information and documents archive + library
For activities taking place outside a specific funded program at Porapara, the facilities will be made available to artists and public to use for a very small access/membership fee, as contribution to ongoing operating and maintenance costs.
Time frame of projectThe development process is ongoing. We have set a target to have the residency space, media studio, print studio and common studio operable by December of 2008. The ceramic studio, silkscreen studio, archive, public gathering and gallery space are scheduled for completion in 2009.
Projected output of project (is it a workshop, a discussion, a showing etc)
We plan to support the following activities in 2009, on completion of the proposed expansion work.
- 2 artist residency programs (each 2 months long) for up to 2 overseas and 3 regional artists at the same time.
- Within each residency period we plan to organize 6 local workshops for a total 120 regional artists, craftspeople and public.
- A projected 25 regional artists would be able to use the studio facility on a membership basis for their own production.
- Over 500 participants per year will be directly involved with the activity of artists through workshops, residency period by collaborations of different kinds.
- A projected 12 presentation sessions and 5 issue based discussions, giving approximate attendance of 500 artists, researchers, journalists, art students, school students and general villagers get chance to experience a large range of art activities and dialogues.
Our target audience for your projectOur core audience will include artists from the region who have come through Chittagong’s two Art Institutes, practicing artists and art-lovers in the district. We also will be actively targeting an audience of general public from the city of Chittagong, as well as artists and art audiences from around the country. People from the village community will be involved at all levels of the program, and we will be working with students from the 2 high schools and 4 primary schools in the area and with cultural organizations in neighbouring villages. The other audience we wish to reach is the large number of people who visit the area around Porapara for recreational purposes (sea beach and river).
Finally, we intend to communicate the projects undertaken at Porapara to a international audience of peers engaged in similar practices.
Disseminate information about the project to our target audience:Posters in art institutes and galleries (Chittagong and nationally); local tea shops, community spaces; email and invitation cards to our own networks of artists, critics and peer organizations; banners in the tourist areas near to the village; verbal invitations along local social networks; as well as national and local press releases (newspaper, TV and radio).
Porapara will also document and develop its own archive through video documentary film, audio recording, photo archive, catalogue publications and website.
Impact on the cultures by engaging with the project:
Porapara space for artists will be the first space in Bangladesh to provide a large number of first-hand opportunities to local artists.
At this time there are no alternative art spaces in Chittagong, and no media-art facilities anywhere in Bangladesh with access for visual artists. There are no ceramic or iron work facilities in the department of Fine Arts at Chittagong University or at Art College, Chittagong. There are additionally no artists’ residency spaces with well-equipped studio facilities anywhere in the country, and no library facilities providing information on contemporary art.
Artists passing their final exam at Chittagong’s 2 major art institutes have currently no options for studio space to continue art practices related to heavy equipment (etching, printing, ceramics, ironwork or multimedia digital work). An independent space for art production is really a critical need of this time in Chittagong.
Porapara will also supply the first opportunity for Bangladesh artists to work in good facilities outside the metropolitan areas. The unique social and natural setting - in close proximity to sea beach, river bank and natural environment, but also to international shipping port and the surrounding radical transitions from a traditional rural existence to life on the fringes of a market economy; will provide a total change of concentrated environment for artists who work mainly in the cities.
In terms of the local population, we have been slowly developing relationship with the villagers over the past 3 years and can already witness a developing awareness of art, the opportunity for contact with other cultures and the possibilities for social change that this can bring. Aside from visitors to our space – and despite the proximity of the international airport and passing tourist traffic – the village Charbasthi is highly isolated from positive cultural influences or visitors from outside the region, so the cultural and social influence Porapara can have is potentially very great.
Our program will bring locals and visitors together in a concentrated way, through collaborations between artists and village craftspeople, direct and varied employment for local labour, the long-running residency periods and the diverse relationships that can form through these contacts. We are confident of the ability of these situations to create real and long-term exchange between people of different backgrounds and origins.
confirm collaborators for the projectMahbubur Rahaman
Md.Abu Naser Robii
Mr.Joydev Roaza
Lucky Barua
Tayeba Begum Lipi
Linocut workshop is on going in porapara.13 young artists working together in supervision of artist Mr.Mahbubur rahman.
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