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+ - Entry no.: V1 CC2 2014 AC3 000 Y 665 Title: Untitled Artist: Murad Mistri (probably) Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Adam Jones Copyright info: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0); https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Date Photo Taken: February 28, 2014 Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh Resolution info: 3572x2728 Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_jones/12850561743/ Notes: Sexualized and fetishized female figure; both figures are identical, but not mirrored exactly; the female figure is probably an actress; painted on the back side of the hood of the rickshaw; the wooden back of the rickshaw is not painted/decorated Subjects: Film, Sexualized, Fetishized, Woman, Actress Bibliographical Reference/s: N/A Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC17 2000s AC6 000 N 003 Title: Untitled Artist: New Shilpi Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and David J Williams Copyright info: All Rights Reserved by Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, David J Williams, and Mapin Publishing Date Photo Taken: c. 2000s Location: Unspecified location, Bangladesh (Presumably Dhaka) Resolution info: N/A Source: http://www.kuntalalahiri-dutt.org/rickhaw-art-of-bangladesh/ ; Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, and David J Williams. Moving Pictures: Rickshaw art of Bangladesh. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing, 2010.; This photo is used in this archive with permission taken from Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt Notes: Inspired by a unknown film; painted on the metal backboard and attached on the back of the rickshaw; the background is suggesting some form of fiery explosion, intensifying the action sequence; painting works; the metal frame and other parts of the rickshaw body is also painted Subjects: Film, Gun, Man, Woman, Fire, Action, Tiger, Elephant, Animal, Mother Bibliographical Reference/s: Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, and David J Williams. Moving Pictures: Rickshaw art of Bangladesh. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing, 2010. Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC13 2010 AC15 000 N 004 Title: Untitled Artist: Serajul Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Audrey Scott & Daniel Noll Copyright info: All Rights Reserved by Audrey Scott & Daniel Noll, Uncornered Market (https://uncorneredmarket.com ) Date Photo Taken: March 30, 2010 Location: Rajshahi, Bangladesh Resolution info: 1024x680 Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uncorneredmarket/5581280881/in/photostream/ ; This photo is used in this archive with permission taken from the photographers Notes: Painted on the metal back of the rickshaw; contour used to distinguish the body from the background in several places; gunfire can be noticed; possibly a portrait of Bollywood film actor Ajay Devgan from his early career Subjects: Man, Bollywood, Film, Tiger, House, Gun, Gunfire, Ring, Animal, Architecture, Action Bibliographical Reference/s: N/A Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC27 1995 AC0 000 N 005 Title: Untitled Artist: Anonymous Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Henry Glassie Copyright info: All rights reserved by Henry Glassie Date Photo Taken: 1995 Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh Resolution info: N/A Source: Glassie, Henry. “The Pictorial System.” In Art and life in Bangladesh, 433-437. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997. ; This photo is used in this archive with permission taken from the photographer/author Notes: Painted on a metal backboard and attached to the back of a rickshaw Subjects: Cow, Bird, Animal, Duck, Tree, Water, Village, Cattle, Rural Bibliographical Reference/s: Glassie, Henry. “The Pictorial System.” In Art and life in Bangladesh, 433-437. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997. Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC18 1981 AC0 000 Y 008 Title: Untitled Artist: Anonymous Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Tom Learmonth Copyright info: Copyright Tom Learmonth 1981; https://www.tomlearmonth.com/ Date Photo Taken: 1981 Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh Resolution info: 5270x3538 Source: The photographer's personal collection Notes: Painted on a metal backboard and attached to the back of a rickshaw Subjects: Bird, Tree, Sky Bibliographical Reference/s: N/A Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC31 2018 AC0 000 N 002 Title: Untitled Artist: Anonymous Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Oliur Sun Copyright info: All rights reserved by Oliur Sun Date Photo Taken: 2018 Location: T-badh, Rajshahi, Bangladesh Resolution info: 1296x1875 Source: The photographers's personal collection Notes: Painted on the metal back of an electric rickshaw Subjects: Tiger, Jungle, Forest, Animal Bibliographical Reference/s: N/A Previous Next

Rongbaaz , Rickshaw, Revival ​ Mohammad Zaki Rezwan April 2020 ​ It was in the early 2000s when Dhaka banned baby taxis from its streets to reduce air pollution. Dhakaites were then introduced to CNG-powered auto-vehicles for their urban commute. Those new vehicles were painted entirely green to maintain a sense of uniformity. This decision might have eased some of their environmental concerns, but what many did not discern at that moment was the extinction of baby taxi art. A few years later, indomitable flowers started blooming on the sides of these vehicles. Quite similarly to this unexpected emergence, bunches of flowers also started blooming on the walls of white cubes, be it as a parasite, host, or both. ​ Rongbaaz , undertaken at Britto Art Space, seeks collaboration among several contemporary Bangladeshi artists – Aminul Islam Ashik, Jewel A Rob, Lutfun Nahar, Mahbubur Rahman, Shimul Dutta, Shimul Saha, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Mohammad Hanif Pappu, and Tapan Das – from seemingly different modes of art practices. Even though Britto Arts Trust has previously accommodated similar projects within their institutional framework, this one eventually turns out as more self-referential than the others. The first thing that can grab anyone’s attention is the mirror hanged on one of the columns upon which the white cube gallery stands. Framed by decorative materials typically seen on the hood of rickshaws, this mirror evinces how the project banks on the dominance of rickshaw and cinema banner painting in Bangladeshi public domain to turn this white cube into a public domain. Nevertheless, it could hardly recapitulate the entire cube in its reflection, let alone what exists beyond. Yet, the viewers can situate themselves against or within the institution in that restricted reflection and explore the apparent contention between the public domain and institutional domain in Bangladesh. ​ The term rongbaaz is popularly referred to as someone who defies the law and order. How is this project ambitioning to become a space for the rongbaaz of the Bangladeshi art landscape? The venture correlates with Andrea Fraser’s idea of an institution of critique by acknowledging its inextricability from the institution followed by an examination of its function. Like graffiti, artists of this exhibition vandalized the facade of their institution even after being cognizant about the expunction of this makeover once the exhibition would be over. Not only do such temporal and spatial restrictions hint at the infrastructural limitation of local art and cultural institutions, but they also confess how even with lesser endorsement rickshaw art and cinema banner practice have thrived and been mobilizing the public sphere for nearly half a century. ​ The collaboration envisions a new language in contemporary arts at the crossroads of different streams of artistic thoughts. The incorporation of the aesthetic language used by rickshaw or cinema banner artists into Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper deliberately demonstrates disorientation, if not only defiance. The conjoining of the flamboyant color palette, the lotus platform, and the narcissistic figuration of the selves in the work initiates a process of de-westernization and self-criticism. For both art and human history, Vinci’s painting, as well as the moment captured within, marks a new era. The question is how and to what extent Rongbaaz is doing it. ​ Often overgeneralized (and mistreated) as naive or primitive for being pastiche and vernacular, both rickshaw art and cinema banner painting practices require a thorough investigation, both artistically and academically. The reenactment of some of the epochs of Western art, culture, and civilization—for example, Vinci’s artistic reawakening and Sam Shaw’s iconic sexualization of Marilyn Monroe—tests the expandability and adaptability of these practices without maiming their core values. The visual retracing of pop icons from both east and west reminisces the postmodern movement of Andy Warhol that once incepted the critical potential of pastiche. Besides, dramatic moments taken from Bangla films manifest how affective experiences can traverse different aesthetic domains, for example, film and painting. Shelved within reach and encompassed by the utilitarian philosophy of rickshaw and cinema banner painting, the painted pots and pans remind how these practices are going through material and consumerist evolution due to the inimical economy. ​ All these cohesively fractured images eventually contemplate the frontiers stationed in between high and low, pastiche and original, institutionalized and noninstitutionalized. As emphasized repeatedly, the true success of Rongbaaz lies in the fact that it intentionally fails to challenge the trajectory of these so-called naive art practices, instead reflecting on the self at large. ​ Exhibition link: http://brittoartstrust.org/2020/02/02/rongbaaz/ ​ Originally published in: https://www.showcase.com.bd/2020/04/20/rongbaaz-rickshaw-revival/ ​ ​ Go back

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC17 2000s AC0 000 N 005 Title: Untitled Artist: Anonymous Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and David J Williams Copyright info: All Rights Reserved by Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, David J Williams, and Mapin Publishing Date Photo Taken: c. 2000s Location: Unspecified location, Bangladesh (Presumably Dhaka) Resolution info: N/A Source: http://www.kuntalalahiri-dutt.org/rickhaw-art-of-bangladesh/ ; Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, and David J Williams. Moving Pictures: Rickshaw art of Bangladesh. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing, 2010.; This photo is used in this archive with permission taken from Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt Notes: Painted on a metal backboard and attached on the back of the rickshaw; based on the designs of the houses, this scene might be depicting an imaginary and non-Bangladeshi rural landscape Subjects: Village, Rural, Water, Sun, Bird, Duck, Sunrise, House, Tree, Sky, Landscape Bibliographical Reference/s: Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, and David J Williams. Moving Pictures: Rickshaw art of Bangladesh. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing, 2010. Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC17 2000s AC0 000 N 010 Title: মায়ের দোয়া (Blessings of Mother) Artist: Anonymous Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and David J Williams Copyright info: All Rights Reserved by Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, David J Williams, and Mapin Publishing Date Photo Taken: c. 2000s Location: Unspecified location, Bangladesh (Presumably Dhaka) Resolution info: N/A Source: http://www.kuntalalahiri-dutt.org/rickhaw-art-of-bangladesh/ ; Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, and David J Williams. Moving Pictures: Rickshaw art of Bangladesh. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing, 2010.; This photo is used in this archive with permission taken from Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt Notes: Painted on the back side of the canvas hood; the sky seems to be representing a moment during the sunset Subjects: Rural, Village, House, Bird, Sky, Tree, Flower, Mother Bibliographical Reference/s: Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, and David J Williams. Moving Pictures: Rickshaw art of Bangladesh. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing, 2010. Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC13 2010 AC0 000 N 003 Title: Untitled Artist: Anonymous Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Audrey Scott & Daniel Noll Copyright info: All Rights Reserved by Audrey Scott & Daniel Noll, Uncornered Market (https://uncorneredmarket.com ) Date Photo Taken: March 30, 2010 Location: Rajshahi, Bangladesh Resolution info: 1024x680 Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uncorneredmarket/5581275803/in/photostream/ ; This photo is used in this archive with permission taken from the photographers Notes: Painted on the metal back of the rickshaw; contour used to distinguish the body from the background in several places, writings on the hand in red reads Meghla 34, probably an identification no. set by the rickshaw owners; faces on the top side of the metal back look similar to the woman Subjects: Woman, Bangle, Earring, Jewelry, Fetish, Portrait Bibliographical Reference/s: N/A Previous Next

+ - Entry no.: V1 CC33 2020 AC0 000 N 001 Title: Untitled Artist: Unknown Year of creation: Unknown Photographer: Mohammad Asif Hossain Copyright info: All rights reserved by Mohammad Asif Hossain Date Photo Taken: 2020 Location: Rajshahi Resolution info: N/A Source: The photographer's personal collection Notes: Painted on the metal back of an electric rickshaw Subjects: House, Village, Tree, Sun, River, Boat, Water Bibliographical Reference/s: N/A Previous Next

Rickshaw Art Collections around the World ​ Please switch to desktop mode if you are using a mobile browser Go back All rights belong to their respective owners