bio

Ashfika Rahman (b,1988) lives and works in Dhaka, BD. Her practice straddles art and documentary, drawing inspiration from the historical archives which she re-contextualizes using contemporary media. Photography is the predominant medium through which she expresses her views on complex systemic social issues. She found her voice in visual art when she discovered her social-activist mother trying to follow her faith in social work. She began to work on the marginal people of Bangladesh, especially about the violence on minor, tribal, or ethnic groups of people in remote hills or a village in peripheries of Bangladesh. In each of her works, she tries to challenge the mainstream perspective towards these issues.

Rahman studied photography at Hochschule Hannover, Germany, and received a professional degree in Documentary Photography from Pathshala (South Asian Media Academy). She exhibited her work in several galleries and festivals including a solo exhibition in Gallery vitrine, Switzerland. “Princesses-des-villes” at Palais de Tokyo( Paris, France), `Rehang` Bikaner House, New Delhi, India. “More than a picture” MAPS images, (Zurich, Switzerland), Photo SCHWEIZ festival, Zurich (CHE), Bangladesh Art Week, (Dubai), RESET, MAPS Images, Demarkten, Brussels, Format Festival 2021, F3– Freiraum for Fotografie 2020 (Germany), Dhaka Art Summit 2020 (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Lumix Festival 2020 ( Germany), ‘Catalyst’ Jimei x Arles international photo festival 2019 (China), “Fabric(ated) Fractures” Alserkal Avenue 2019 (Dubai), “Women in Photography Exhibition” at Objectif (Singapore), “Chobi Mela X” International Photography Festival 2019 (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Lumix Festival 2018( Hannover, Germany), Indian Photo Festival 2018 (IPF)(Hyderabad, India), Dhaka Art Summit 2018 (Dhaka, Bangladesh).

She joined Pathshala (South Asian Media Academy) as a faculty member. She received Joop Swart Masterclass by World Press in 2018. She joined MAPS images agency (Brussels) as a member. She is represented by gallery Vitrine gallery based in UK and Switzerland.

Recognition (select listing):

2022 Finalist for The 2022 Sovereign Asian Art Prize
2021 Format Festival Open Call Award 2021
2020 Finalist Samdani Art Award
2020 Nominated for Leica Oskar Barnack Award
2020 New York Times Portfolio Review
2019 12 Women Photographer to watch in 2019 by PH museum
2018 Joop Swart Master Class by World Press Photo
2018 Finalist IPA award
2018 Finalist Samdani Art Award

Grants & Commissions :

2021 Curate POP UP project by Goethe Institute Bangladesh
2021 Horizontal Project by Kaspersky
2021 C3- community, Goethe-institute, Bangladesh
2021 Stitching Screens grant by FICA - Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, India and Samdani Art Foundation, India

Exhibitions (Solo):

2021 Gallery Vitrine, Basel, Switzerland.
2022 `I Belong`, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Exhibition (select listing):

8TH TRIENNIAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY HAMBURG 2022
2022 PHOTO 2020 - International Festival of Photography. / Australia
2022 ‘Let no one mistake us for the fruit of Violence’, India: (This exhibition will travel globally), Commissioned by Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Chennai.
2022 `Floating Dream Comes Home` Goethe Pop Up project, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2022 ‘Rehang’ at Bikaner House, New Delhi, India
2021 Bangladesh Art Week, Foundry, Dubai
2021 MAPS X MSF More than a Photo Collective Exhibition, Zurich, Switgerland.
2021 Photo SCHWEIZ festival, Zurich (CHE), Switgerland.
2021 RESET — Exploring the transformations that are emerging from the turmoil our modern societies face, demarkten, Brussels, Belgium.
2021 Format Festival 2021, The United Kingdom
2020 F3 - Space for Photography (F3– Freiraum for Fotografie), Berlin, Germany
2020 Lumix Festival 2020, Curated by karen Fromm, Hannover, Germany
2020 Dhaka Art Summit 2020, Curated by Philippe Pirotte, Bangladesh
2019 “Princesses-des-villes” Curated by Hugo Vitrani and Fabien Danesi at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France.
2019 ‘Catalyst’ Jimei X Arles international photo festival, Curated by Rahaab Alna, China.
2019 “Fabric(ated) Fractures”Curated by Diana Campbell, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
2019 “Women in Photography Exhibition” Curated by Emmeline Yong at Objectifs (Centre for film and photography), Singapore.
2019 “Chobi Mela X” International Photography Festival, Curated by Zihan Karim, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2018 Lumix Festival 2018, Curated by Tanzim Wahab, Hannover, Germany.
2018 Indian Photo Festival 2018 (IPF), Hyderabad, India.
2018 Dhaka Art Summit 2018, Curated by Simon Castets Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2017 Exhibition “Cross Road”, Curated by Sophia Greiff Hannover, Germany.
2016 Exhibited in Muslin Festival Curated by Rezaur Rahman National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Digital Exhibition:

project ‘A time comes we hear Nothing’ is a collaboration with artist Amol K Patil. Supported by SAF, BD and FICA, IND. Featured by confine 2021, South Asian Digital Arts Festival. https://www.deconfine.org/featured-projects/stitching-screens

Initiative:

‘Jolchobi’

Floating photography school
Floating photography school for children on a boat in villages surrounded by water. Focused to explores local resources. Provides different photography and printing workshops with interested children from the local community. Travel exhibition and a projection on a boat.

Panelist (select listing):

2021 The Master Symposium 2021. ‘Seeing into the Heart of Things: Earth and Equality Within Indigenous and Ancestral Knowledges’ hosted by the University Institute Art Gender Nature HGK FHNW in Basel in collaboration with CULTURES CAPES 2021 Amazonia.
2021 Chair of the panels ‘The Horasis Global Meeting’ Under the theme of ‘The Arts: Towards a Feminist Future’

Publication ( Select listing)

2022 Caravan Magazine
2021 Blume Magazine
2021 Geo Magazine
2020- Better Photography Magazine
2020- Musee Magazine
2020- Geo-saison
2019- Amnesty International
2019- GEO.de
2019- Dreamideamachine ART VIEW
2019- Palais magazine
2019- Himalmag
2019- Document Journal
2019- Art Viewer
2019- PHMuseum
2019- The Hindu
2019- Art News
2018- Lensculture Blog
2018- Daily Prothom Alo
2017- Hannoversche Allgemeine

Article (select listing):

Podcast (select listing):

Art around the table / Samdani Art Foundation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kGxVexd7Jo&t=2575s
Format Festival https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=363500071599010
Chennai photo Biennale - https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=363500071599010#
Lumix Festival - https://vimeo.com/427667537
ASAP Connect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E45xJn3vdOo&t=30s https://youtu.be/hsR2J0dE0_4
Goethe-Institut Bangladesh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy3wpcK9Gmw&t=1212s
Goethe-Institut Popup Culture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd7E0fNLggw&t=128s

Telecast:

Experience:

Faculty Member (Current)

Pathshala, South Asian Media Institute Dhaka, Bangladesh

Member (Current)

Maps Images Agency Brussels, Belgium

Exhibition Coordinator 2021

Chobi Mela International Photo festival 2021 Dhaka, Bangladesh

Young’ Feminist Network 2020-2021

The Goethe-Institut, BD and the Deutsche Welle (DW) Akademie

Festival Design Program Core Team (2019-2020) Dhaka Art Summit 2019-2020

Educational Background:

2017 Professional Diploma, Photography University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hochschule Hannover (HsH), Germany.
2016 Three (3) Year Professional Diploma, Professional Photography, South Asia Media Academy, Pathshala, Bangladesh.
2012 Master of Business Administration (MBA)(ongoing) Finance, Department of Finance, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
2011 Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Finance and Banking, State University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2006 Diploma in Indian Classical Dance -2010, BAFA- Bangladesh.

Upcoming Project/talk:

2022 An Artist Talk, on June, the 3rd at the Triennial in Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany
2022 A workshop `seeing through the heart of victim` in Hochschule Hannover (HsH) on the 10th of June 2022.
2022 A board symposium at Hochschule Hannover (HsH) focusing on gender and diversity.
2022 Showcase Digital (work on the process) X Museum China
2022 Man Male Masculine by Goethe Chennai, India