Galleri Kaya, a Dhaka-based gallery serving the city's art scene for 22 years, launched a group exhibition on Friday to celebrate its anniversary. The show features 73 artworks by 45 artists, spanning seven decades from 1957 to 2026, in diverse media including oil, acrylic, charcoal, and printmaking techniques. United States Ambassador Brent T Christensen opened the exhibition, which was attended by senior artist Shahid Kabir and barrister Nihad Kabir. The exhibition includes works by eminent Bangladeshi artists such as Goutam Chakraborty, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Monirul Islam, and Hamiduzzaman Khan, as well as noted Indian artists Jogen Chowdhury and KG Subramanyan. The 15-day exhibition runs through June 26.
The anniversary matters because Galleri Kaya has been a consistent pillar of Dhaka's art ecosystem since 2004, organizing more than 160 exhibitions, art trips, camps, and workshops. By curating works from its collection that bridge established and emerging Bangladeshi artists alongside Indian contemporaries, the gallery underscores the cross-border dialogue and folk-modern fusion that has shaped Bangladesh's artistic identity. The exhibition also highlights how a local commercial gallery can sustain a community and preserve artistic heritage over two decades, offering a model for cultural resilience in South Asia.