{"id":3051,"date":"2025-08-25T18:20:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T18:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=3051"},"modified":"2025-09-17T18:03:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:03:35","slug":"map-of-misfortune-asma-sultanas-ode-to-1971s-legacy-of-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=3051","title":{"rendered":"Map of Misfortune: Asma Sultana\u2019s ode to 1971\u2019s legacy of resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Asma Sultana Meeta<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

From July 16 to August 3, 2025, Gerrard Art Space <\/a>(GAS Inc.) in Toronto hosted Map of Misfortune<\/em>, a solo exhibition by Bangladeshi artist Asma Sultana Meeta. This interdisciplinary installation, spanning works created between 2012 and 2025, wove a powerful narrative of mourning and resistance. Map of Misfortune<\/em> stands as a clarion call\u2014a defiant act of love and memory. Through her art, Sultana honours the three million souls lost in 1971 while vowing to preserve Bangladesh\u2019s luminous heart. The exhibition, with its unyielding hope, challenges viewers to confront the darkness threatening freedom and to join in the fight to reclaim it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a rich tapestry of photography, mixed media, textiles, video, digital art, sculptures, and drawings, Sultana crafted an elegiac reflection on her homeland\u2019s sociopolitical struggles, rooted in the legacy of the 1971 Liberation War.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Gamcha Gatha <\/em>(the Story of Wiping off Sweat, Blood and History), 2025, Mixed Media (Bangladeshi Cotton Towels, Ink, Mehndi, Burnt, Markers) Variable<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sultana, a South Asian diasporic artist based in Toronto, channels her Bangladeshi heritage into a visceral exploration of identity, memory, and resilience. Her work confronts the \u201cmalevolent political currents\u201d and \u201cresurgent religious fundamentalism\u201d threatening Bangladesh\u2019s hard-won independence.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Strange Darkness is Slowly Swallowing Everything<\/em>, ((Original Photograph: Naib Uddin Ahmed (1925 \u2013 2009)), 2025<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Drawing inspiration from the 1971 war, which claimed three million lives and galvanised global support through voices like George Harrison, Sultana\u2019s exhibition serves as both a remembrance of that sacrifice and a protest against the creeping authoritarianism that endangers her homeland\u2019s spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awami League concerned over Pakistanization of Bangladesh under Yunus regime<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1971: Pakistan\u2019s guilt will not go away<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The red and green of Bangladesh\u2019s flag, radiant symbols of freedom, flicker in her art as beacons of hope amid despair.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Still September on Jessore Road<\/em>, 2025, Mixed Media (Bangladeshi Cotton Sari Fabric, Tea, Ink, Mehndi, Acrylic, Ink), Variable<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The exhibition\u2019s emotional core is amplified by the words of Bengali poet Jibanananda Das, whose verse\u2014 \u201cA strange darkness has descended upon this earth today\u201d\u2014haunts the installation. Sultana uses this lament to frame Bangladesh\u2019s current state: a young nation trapped in \u201cidentity paralysis,\u201d caught in a cycle of sociopolitical missteps where fundamental rights remain elusive.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Nightmare Revisited, 2025, Digital Art Print on Paper, Marker, 23.5″ X 14.75″<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Her work critiques the global indifference to what she calls \u201creligious colonialism,\u201d a force that threatens to unravel the cultural and political fabric of the Global South\u2019s vibrant history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sultana\u2019s interdisciplinary approach is both innovative and deeply personal. Known for using her hair and thumbprints as mediums, she investigates her identity within the frameworks of time and space. In *Map of Misfortune*, these autobiographical elements merge with photographs capturing Bangladesh\u2019s landscapes and struggles, sculptures assembled from found objects, and textiles that evoke the tactile weight of cultural memory. Video and digital art installations further immerse viewers in the tension between resilience and loss, creating a \u201cpoignant symphony\u201d that resonates with both defiance and sorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Leave the Windows Open, One Day They Will Return Home<\/em>, 2024-2025, Digital Art Print on Paper, 60″ X 44″<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As an MFA candidate at York University, trained in Fine Arts and Art History across Bangladesh, England, and Canada, Sultana brings a global perspective to her practice. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide, earning recognition in print and digital media and finding a place in private collections. At GAS Inc., her ability to harmonise diverse media into a cohesive narrative left a lasting impression on visitors, who were invited to reflect on the fragility of democracy and the enduring power of art as resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on Asma Sultana\u2019s work, visit her portfolio here<\/a><\/em><\/strong> and GAS Inc.\u2019s archives<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From July 16 to August 3, 2025, Gerrard Art Space (GAS Inc.) in Toronto hosted Map of Misfortune, a solo exhibition by Bangladeshi artist Asma Sultana Meeta. This interdisciplinary installation,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[646,1,25,20,42],"tags":[88,263,709,715,708,714,712,710,713,181,711],"class_list":["post-3051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-gallery","category-lifestyle","category-news","category-politics","tag-1971-genocide","tag-1971-liberation-war","tag-george-harrison","tag-gerrard-art-space-gas-inc","tag-jessore-road","tag-jibanananda-das","tag-map-of-misfortune","tag-religious-colonialism","tag-religious-fundamentalism","tag-war-of-independence","tag-york-university"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3051"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3061,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3051\/revisions\/3061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}