The Ends of Modernism: Understanding the Political Uses of Modernist Art among Muslim Intellectuals in Bangladesh since 1952.

Political movements in the postcolonial world often bring artist out into the streets along with intellectuals, students and workers. The death of Egyptian artist Ahmed Basiony at the hands of security forces in Tahrir Square is a poignant case in point. Basiony's death added great urgency to his posthumous Egyptian Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale in which the work of art measured the costs of action. But how can we understand the role of the fine arts in political movements and political action? How can we understand the roles artists and objects of arts may play in creating political awareness or spurring social movements? How do objects of art or aesthetic environments make political hope or aspiration tangible and produce affective responses in viewers? And in what ways do artists in postcolonial societies turn to the visual and plastic arts to pursue concrete political goals, often in contexts of political repression?

This research project investigates the uses of modernist art in political movements from a social science perspective. Modernist art is often considered to be autonomous and free from social constraint. Its practitioners and critics believe it encourages new ways of seeing the world, presenting viewers with revolutionary new sensations and visions. The radical break with the past that avant-garde modernist artists imagine makes for politically subversive works of art. As a global art form, modernist art has been controversial and groundbreaking in many parts of the world.

In Bangladesh, the modernist dream of creating something radically new has been a leitmotif in the various attempts to liberate, develop and transform this part of Bengal. The modernist dream of progress and universal principles is at the heart of contemporary Bangladeshi society and politics. It can be discerned as easily in the politics of donors as in that of its artists . This project focuses specifically on the role of artists and modernist art practices within the politics of remaking East Pakistan/Bangladesh. Since independence from Britain in 1947, artists from this part of the world have been at the forefront of important and radical political movements and contests in the new state of East Pakistan that in 1971 became Bangladesh. Modernist works of art and artists have been at the receiving end of significant state repression in various forms of censorship in East Pakistan/Bangladesh. At the same time, politicians have embraced public works of modern art as a means to increase their own legitimacy. International organizations in Bangladesh have similarly linked the arts to political goals, such as the engagement with local artists by the Goethe Institute or British Council. Modern art has consistently been sought out for political ends in this part of the world.

To understand the ways in which the arts are used as tools for political contestation in Bangladesh, I will interview artists, art students and policy makers in Dhaka's galleries, arts organisations, universities and NGOs. Archival work in significant Bangladeshi archives will explore the original writings of key East Bengali intellectuals and artists. I will also observe arts classes at important universities and arts institutes and explore with students how they learn to appreciate, understand and make art. I will observe the uses of public space around important modernist buildings and structures. Combined, these methods will illuminate the ways in which modernist art and artists have been part of the political contests of post-colonial East Pakistan/Bangladesh. This research project will contribute to our understanding of the links between culture and politics in the world today.

Besides the academic beneficiaries outlined above, a number of non-academic users and beneficiaries of this project can be identified:
- National public stakeholders in arts policy at the Bangladesh Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, including the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
- International stakeholders in foreign arts policy related to Bangladesh such as the directors of the foreign cultural institutions such as the British Council and Alliance Française and the cultural attachés of diplomatic missions in Dhaka.
- National and International NGOs and development organisations with an explicit arts and culture agenda, such as Probhortona and UNESCO.
- Arts practitioners such as artists, curators, gallery owners, arts collectors, arts magazine editors and art students within Bangladesh and abroad with an interest in contemporary South Asian arts.
- The general public in the UK and Bangladesh with an interest in the arts, particularly in postcolonial and Muslim-majority societies.

The relevance of the research for these different users and beneficiaries consists of:
- New research data about the links between fine arts and politics that can inform policy in the UK, Bangladesh and abroad and inform the general public.
- New insight into the functioning of cultural politics in a postcolonial and Muslim-majority society that can inform policy and the general public.
- Formal analyses and narrative accounts of objects of art and artistic practice in East Pakistan/Bangladesh that will provide new perspective on contemporary and historical modernist practices that can inform arts practitioners, critics and the general public.

To ensure that these beneficiaries have the opportunity to engage with and be informed about this research project, the following impact strategies will be developed:

- Focus groups
During of the field research I will hold three focus groups at the Film Development Corporation, Goethe Institute and British Council and invite national and international stakeholders and local arts practitioners to discuss initial research findings around the relation between politics and fine arts in Bangladesh.

- Policy report
The results of the focus groups will be a policy report to be shared with the three institutions, the cultural attachés of diplomatic missions in Dhaka, and the relevant NGOs, INGOs and development organisations in Bangladesh.

- Advanced training course
I will develop and co-teach a masterclass on art and politics for the new Summer School of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science, which will be open to students as well as those working in policy-oriented research environments such as the third sector and local government in Scotland.

- Media features
I will collaborate with media contacts to produce media features for newspapers, radio and television about my research. I will contribute articles to the well-read open source journal Himal Southasian, the popular Bangladeshi arts magazines Jamini and Depart, and the popular social scientific magazine Economic and Political Weekly.

- Public lectures
I will give two public lectures in Dhaka for local audiences.

- Blog
Throughout the project I will maintain a research blog where I will post research vignettes, analysis, imagery and accounts of arts exhibitions and events. A dedicated YouTube channel will be linked to the blog, on which selected video-clips from the research will be uploaded.

- Exhibition
I will collaborate with Bangladeshi photographer and filmmaker Paul James Gomes to produce an exhibition and catalogue about the research project to be shown in Dhaka and Edinburgh.

- Documentary
I will develop a short documentary film based on this research which will be submitted to international documentary and ethnographic film festivals.