Ashmolean and Samdani launch Bangladeshi art

The Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford and the Samdani Art Foundation in Dhaka have announced a new partnership to support contemporary artists from Bangladesh. The initiative combines an annual visiting artist programme with the development of a dedicated collection of contemporary Bangladeshi art at the Ashmolean, beginning with Munem Wasif’s two-week residency which started earlier this month in September 2026.

The inaugural Ashmolean Samdani Visiting Artist is Munem Wasif, an artist, curator and educator based in Dhaka. He is spending two weeks at the museum working with its collections and archives. The programme will invite one Bangladeshi artist to Oxford for a two-week residency each year.

Artist’s practice engages with colonial history and museum collections

Munem Wasif’s practice brings together photography, moving image, archival materials, and found objects. He often explores ideas around impermanence, insecurity, and memory. During his time at the Ashmolean, he is looking at the colonial history of Bengal and considering how the museum’s collections might connect with his existing work.

Wasif said his practice has long returned to the colonial history of Bengal, often through the fragments that remain. He is interested in encountering objects and artworks firsthand to see how they might connect with questions he explores through photography, prints, and textiles. His visit gives him a chance to look at colonial history more closely through the museum's holdings while developing connections with the wider cultural community around the University of Oxford.

Partnership expands museum’s holdings and global reach for Bangladeshi art

The collaboration will see the Ashmolean build a dedicated collection of contemporary Bangladeshi art through annual acquisitions. This gives the museum a new way to expand its holdings of contemporary art from Bangladesh and strengthens its connections with artists from the region. The new acquisitions will add to the Ashmolean’s existing collection of South Asian art, which it describes as among the most extensive in the UK outside London.

Dr. Mallica Kumbera Landrus, Professor and Keeper of Eastern Art at the Ashmolean, said the partnership gives the museum an exciting opportunity to develop its South Asian story through contemporary Bangladeshi art and artists. She was thrilled about the new collaboration. The project is described as the first sustained initiative supporting Bangladeshi artists at any major museum across the globe. It gives contemporary Bangladeshi artists a recurring institutional presence in Oxford while building a permanent record of their work.

The museum has already acquired works by Ashfika Rahman with support from the Samdani Art Foundation, with further acquisitions planned. The museum will also work with the foundation on research into Bangladesh’s contemporary art scene.

Foundation’s track record and broader cultural initiatives underpin the collaboration

The partnership marks 15 years of the Samdani Art Foundation’s work supporting Bangladeshi artists through exhibitions, awards, residencies and international collaborations. Founded in 2011 by Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani, the foundation works with artists, architects, curators and writers to share Bangladeshi culture. It has created opportunities for artists to work internationally through projects like the Dhaka Art Summit and the Samdani Art Award.

Earlier this year, the foundation supported Soma Surovi Jannat’s solo exhibition at the Ashmolean, described as the first solo exhibition by a Bangladesh-based artist in a UK museum. Jannat was the winner of the 2020 Samdani Art Award. The foundation has also announced a partnership with Kunsthalle Basel to host the Samdani Art Award in November 2026, where eight finalists will take part in Regionale 27 alongside artists from the Basel region.

The foundation’s permanent art centre and sculpture park, Srihatta in Sylhet, continues to host residencies and community projects. Srihatta is one of the founding organizations of Photosynthesis, an international residency network supported by the Getty Foundation. The first Photosynthesis residency at Srihatta is due to begin in December 2026 and will feature Indian interdisciplinary artist Himali Singh Soin.

Nadia Samdani MBE, President and co-founder of the Samdani Art Foundation, said the partnership is a natural extension of the foundation's vision to create lasting cultural bridges between Bangladesh and the world. She said they are proud to see this vision take shape at a world-leading institution and deeply grateful to the Ashmolean for joining them in making it possible.

Munem Wasif is spending two weeks at the Ashmolean working with the museum’s collections and archives during his residency, which began earlier this month in September 2026.