Samdanis Expand Bangladeshi Art Presence with Dhaka Summit Success and Srihatta Center

The Dhaka Art Summit, founded by Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani, has grown into a major cultural event attracting nearly half a million visitors to its sixth edition in 2023. Initially facing resistance from Bangladesh's established art market, the initiative now enjoys support from numerous local and international institutions. Rajeeb Samdani, an industrialist, noted that contemporary artists they championed were excluded from traditional networks when they began. Nadia Samdani described the summit as a pop-up museum, festival, and public platform during a talk at Art Basel Hong Kong last year. This momentum has led the couple to develop Srihatta, a 40-hectare art center and sculpture park in Sylhet scheduled to open in 2025. While the biennial summit will skip a year with its seventh edition planned for 2026, the Samdanis remain active on various advisory committees including those for Tate, Alserkal Avenue, and Asia Society. Their goal has consistently been to bring global attention to Bangladesh's art scene.