At its sixth edition on Friday, Dhaka Art Summit introduced the concept of social enterprise as a socially-engaged art practice. The hybrid exhibit/store titled ‘Purposeful Goods; (third-floor of Shilpakala's National Art Gallery building) features products of 10 organizations working to empower communities across Bangladesh. They include Afield, Artpro, Friendship, Jaago Foundation, Jothashilpa, Re/DRESS, Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre, Artolution, Rizvi Hassan, and Transend. Most products are for sale, including handicrafts, clothing, and children's art. Cosmos Books offers a selection of books, including ‘Rohingya Folktales,' a collection of oral folklore from the Rohingya camps for sale for the first time in Bangladesh.
Shahirah Majumdar spoke to Purposeful Goods curator Teresa Albor to understand the concept behind the show.
How does Purposeful Goods fit within the larger vision of Dhaka Art Summit 2023?
We recognized that so many artists this time have something that makes sense to sell within their practice. It's a bit of an experiment to combine the idea of an art exhibit with a kind of not-for-profit store. But this is storytelling. We're telling the story of how practices that believe in changing the world, sometimes use social enterprise as one of their tools. It's not easy. It doesn't always work. But each group here represents an attempt to do this. And what unites these groups is that they plow the profits back into the work that they're doing.
Shahirah MajumdarHow does Purposeful Goods widen the definition of what is art and who can be an artist?
There used to be the old-fashioned notion that you had to be very specialized — either a painter or a sculptor – to be an artist. Then people challenged that notion, all the way up to the idea that the way you live your life can be your form of performing art. A good example is Assemble Group, which won the Turner Prize in 2015 for their community work to save houses in Liverpool from demolition.
Shahirah MajumdarI'm sure some people will just say, ‘Oh, this is a byproduct of this artist's practice' but this is in fact their practice. ArtPro, for example is very process-driven and community-engaged. They do art practices with the community, like ceramics. And they happen to end up with really nice products. So the next natural step is to sell them.
In social enterprise, you're not consuming an investment painting, but you are consuming affordable products that are made through an artistic process. So it's a very democratic form of art-making.
What are some inspirations for this show?
I was inspired by this fantastic show called ‘A Question of Funding,' which looked like a show of Palestinian art. But in fact, when we read the wall text, it was about what they had to do to show this art. I want people to consider, ‘Oh, wow, look at all the work they had to do to get to a point where they actually have some products that they can sell.'
What are the opening hours for Purposeful Goods?
Hours are February 3, 10am - 8pm; February 4, noon -7pm; February 5-9, 3pm - 8pm; February 10-11, noon - 7:30pm. All proceeds go directly to the group. Sales are cash-only. We are grateful to Bangladesh Apparel Exchange for their in-kind support.
