Visual artist Bangladesh

Zihan Karim

2014 Residence Program

Born in 1984 in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

［Residence Program］ Sep 18, 2014〜Oct 28, 2014

Artmaking

During his residency, Zihan created two artworks.
The first was to C, a collaborative piece made with local film artist Makizono Kenji and submitted for the Itoshima International Arts Festival 2014: Itoshima Arts Farm (11–19 October) in Itoshima city, just outside Fukuoka. The pair created an installation made out of chairs, doors and other unwanted items sourced from local households, and displayed these at a venue at Inariyama.
For his second work, Zihan filmed a site-specific video artwork titled From the Street, which was screened under a bridge of Hakata River during the Hakata Riverain Lantern Festival on 18 October. Much of Zihan’s work involves intervening in the cityscape with video projections to elucidate its unique qualities, and the artist spent much time observing people at yatai (outdoor food stalls) in Hakata and the entertainment quarter of Nakasu, the largest of its kind in western Japan. He filmed young people mingling at various yatai beside the river, young women fiddling with their mobile phones, a man asleep on the pavement, a street performer (this being the Bangladeshi baul) and the yatai. While the exhibition only lasted one night, it made a distinctive contribution to the many galleries that comprise Hakata Riverain Lantern Festival.