Naim Ul Hasan

The window that never opened

"I live in a government quarter in one of the busiest spots in Dhaka. Our roadside windows used to stay closed because of the dust and the noise from the road. Then came this global pandemic. The streets became silent. Suddenly, it felt like we were in an alternative alternate reality. Lacking sleep on hot, humid nights, I used to stare at the roads beside my window… made eye contact with a homeless man one day… we kept looking at each other for some time… then he moved on to find a place to take shelter from the rain… I was waiting for the rain the whole day… and now I don’t want it to come. When life around you stops, you start noticing stuff that you wouldn't notice otherwise. With all the family members occupying the house all the time, the spatial aspect of the house takes dramatic turns. Toddler turns into little Jackson Pollock. The walls speak the language of the occupants. Objects transform into personal testimony. A window blasted open which had never opened before."

Naim Ul Hasan is a lens-based artist and curator, who currently lives and works in Dhaka, Bangladesh. After completing post-graduation in Development Economics from the South Asian University, New Delhi (2017), he has devoted his time to art curation, co-ordination and photography. His recent participation as an artist was in 'Dhaka Lucerne' (2020), a group exhibition of six prominent and promising artists at the Teiggi Studio and Exhibition Space in Kriens, Lucerne, Switzerland.