Nadia Samdani talks about the journey so far and the vision for Dhaka Art Summit

What does it take to establish a world-class event focused on contemporary arts in a country that does not even have basic art infrastructure? The answer itself is simple – a vision and a commitment to the vision, although making it a reality is an altogether different story. Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani co-founded the Samdani Art Foundation with an objective to support the art originating from Bangladesh. The foundation produces its flagship event, the biennial Dhaka Art Summit, to further this desire. "The summit is our own model. We have not followed anyone and we have created this," says Nadia.

Dhaka Art Summit is, in fact, a unique format that is not easily comparable to several other key events globally. The Samdani Art Foundation commissions several site-specific works and makes it an experiential viewing process for the visitors. Nadia briefly spoke about a new and upcoming initiative undertaken by the foundation, an art centre and sculpture part at Sylhet (also in Bangladesh); she busted the rumour that the Dhaka Art Summit itself was going to conclude with its fifth edition!

STIR also spoke to Shireen Gandhy, Director of Chemould Prescott Road, and Shanay Jhaveri, Assistant Curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As experts who are well versed with the global contemporary art scene, they deliberated upon aspects that stood out in the recent edition to bring the best of contemporary art under one roof.