Making Space:Sensing Place

In October 2009, along with artist Thurle Wright, I was awarded a Making Space:Sensing Place Fellowship; part of the HAT: Here and There International Exchange Programme, managed by A Fine Line:Cultural Practice. The Fellowship includes residencies with Britto Arts in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with Arts Reverie in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, with The V&A Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London and with The Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire. Working and collaborating with artists and craftspeople from the UK, Bangladesh and India, responding to the collections and spaces we encounter and sharing these experiences through a touring exhibition and educational workshops.

This blog, which is still developing and being added to, is a record of my experiences during the MS:SP Fellowship. Steven Follen.
www.stevenfollen.com

Friday 5 February 2010

Behind Hindu Street: Old Dhaka


All along Hindu Street there are small alleyways and stairways leading to courtyards and living spaces behind and above the shops, most of them are so small in size that I had to turn my shoulders side ways and stoop to move through them. Behind the shops was a wealth of visual treats; surfaces, colours, structures and shapes.

Here people were stacked on top of each other in small enclosed communities, with shared wells, washing areas and shrines.

The pigeon breeders use bamboo grids on tall poles to give their birds a place to roost, high up and away from the cats.