Info
Omar Chowdhury (b. 1984, Dhaka) fabricates installations and moving image works staging ethical farces that subvert systems of authority and certainty. Luring audiences into plausible, beguiling worlds, his work eventually abandons them to cascading excess, slippage, and fragmentation. He has recently presented at IFFR Tiger Short Competition (2025), Busan Biennale (2024), Contour Biennale 10 (2023), Dhaka Art Summit, and Annet Gelink Gallery. He attended the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and lives and works in Brussels and Dhaka.
Education & Fellowships
- 2018–19
- Post-graduate residentRijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam
- 2017
- Post-academic laureateHoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent
- 2004
- BComUniversity of New South Wales, Sydney
Selected Exhibitions & Screenings
- 2027*
- master_slave (solo) (forthcoming)Netwerk, Aalst (Yasaman Tamizkar, Laura Herman, Godart Bakkers)
- 2027*
- master_slave (solo) (forthcoming)Batalha Centre for Cinema, Porto (Lídia Queirós, Guilherme Blanc)
- 2026
- BAN♡ITSWillie, Amsterdam (Joppe Venema, Antonin Giroud-Delorme)
- 2025
- BAN♡ITS, New Cinema Award WinnerBerwick Film & Media Arts Festival (Peter Taylor)
- 2025
- BAN♡ITS, World Premiere, in competitionInternational Film Festival Rotterdam (Koen de Rooij)
- 2024
- BAN♡ITSBusan Biennale (Philippe Pirotte, Vera Mey)
- 2024
- Unmasking SaturnHet Bos / Extra Academy, Antwerp (Helen Mauli, Nick Dockx)
- 2023
- Unwinding SaturnTerrarium, LUCA School of Arts, Brussels
- 2023
- Janus Tussle, Belgian premiereBeursschouwburg, Brussels (Sofia Dati)
- 2023
- Faydabad For-Sale (solo)Dhaka Art Summit collateral, Ke ba kahara (Sadia Rahman)
- 2022
- Janus TussleTransforming Narratives, Birmingham and Dhaka (Sadia Rahman)
- 2021
- Echo, Saturn (II)—The Courts (solo)Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (Nadine van der Vlies)
- 2020
- Faydabad To-Let (solo)Faydabad, Dhaka (Sadia Rahman)
- 2020
- What goes aroundMajhi, Der Bogen, Berlin (Zippora Elders)
- 2019
- Echo, Saturn (I) (solo)Rijksakademie, Amsterdam (Gabi Ngcobo)
- 2019
- Augustijn (three-channel) (solo)Netwerk, Aalst (Pieternel Vermoortel, Piet Mertens)
- 2019
- Augustijn, international premiereInternational Film Festival Rotterdam (Maaike Gouwenberg)
- 2018
- Echo, Saturn—PrologueRijksakademie, Amsterdam (Aernout Mik, Isabel Cornaro)
- 2018
- Augustijn (three-channel)Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (Omer Fast)
- 2018
- Order, Laboratorio ApertoFondazione Antonio Ratti, Como (Christina Mackie)
- 2018
- Unravelling SaturnDe Appel, Amsterdam (Miriam H. Wistreich)
- 2018
- Rijksakademielezing #11 / Uncoiling SaturnClub Solo, Breda
- 2017
- Trust in the unexpectedGovernor’s Mansion, Ghent (Elena Sorokina)
- 2017
- Changing SpacesFilm and Video Umbrella, London (Mariam Zulfiqar)
- 2016
- The Colonies at DuskLes Rencontres International, Paris and Berlin
- 2016
- APT8, Pop IslamAsia Pacific Triennial 8, QAGOMA (José Da Silva)
- 2016
- Works from Age of SaturnBengal Galleries, Dhaka Art Summit (Sadia Rahman)
- 2016
- Age of Saturn (solo)Bengal Foundation, Dhaka (Sadia Rahman)
- 2016
- Archive Systems in the Neutral DistanceIndia Art Fair (Sadia Rahman)
- 2015
- The Extreme of Love Is Just the Circumference of HorrorArt Gwangju (Sadia Rahman)
- 2015
- To Not Believe in the Divine, Yet Always Aspire to Reach ItBus Projects, Melbourne (Callum Morton)
- 2014
- Form as Being (solo)MOMENTUM, Berlin (Rachel Rits-Volloch)
- 2014
- Ways (solo)4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney (Aaron Seeto)
- 2014
- Means (solo)ALASKA Projects, Sydney (Seb Goldspink)
- 2014
- TorsionsDhaka Art Summit (Deepak Ananth)
Commissions & Awards & Grants
- 2025–27
- Beurs Bewezen Talent (two-year grant)Flemish Government, Belgium
- 2025
- Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds Production FundingFlemish Government, Belgium
- 2024
- Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds Research GrantFlemish Government, Belgium
- 2023
- Kunstendecreet grantFlemish Government, Belgium
- 2022
- Audio-visual grantSTUK, Leuven
- 2021
- Transforming Narratives commissionBritish Council
- 2020
- NowOn grantPro Helvetia Switzerland
- 2019
- Presentation Support GrantStichting Stokroos
- 2019
- FellowshipRob Defares, Rijksakademie
- 2018
- Residency supportAustralia Council for the Arts
- 2017
- Skills and Development GrantAustralia Council for the Arts
- 2016
- Cultural Trust GrantIan Potter Cultural Trust
- 2016
- Blake Art Prize, TorsionsCasula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney
- 2015
- Artist Production GrantBengal Foundation
- 2015
- Blake Art Prize, Locus I+IIGalleries UNSW, Sydney
- 2014
- Keir Foundation CommissionKeir Foundation
- 2014
- Skills and Development GrantAustralia Council for the Arts
- 2014
- John Fries Award, TorsionsGalleries UNSW, Sydney
- 2013
- Career AwardCopyright Agency, Sydney
- 2013
- Edward M. Kennedy GrantEMK Center, Dhaka
Media
- 2026
- The Slow Frame: Duration, Stillness, and the Expanded Moving Image in BangladeshImran Firdaus, Midnight’s Third Child
- 2026
- Why Artists Are Travelling to This Tiny Town on Latvia’s Baltic CoastKeshav Anand, Something Curated
- 2025
- Why So Serious?!: On Omar Chowdhury’s BAN♡ITSRen Scateni, yanco
- 2025
- Hope Strickland & Omar Chowdhury Q&ABerwick Film & Media Arts Festival
- 2025
- Review: aemi & Docs Ireland Presents Acting Woman, BAN♡ITS and The LaughableNeil Cadieux, Film Ireland
- 2024
- Historical Vertigo: Art, Censorship, and the Contested History of BangladeshLotte Hoek, Freedoms of Speech
- 2024
- Seeing in the Dark: Busan Biennale ReviewMark Rappolt, ArtReview
- 2024
- Review of BAN♡ITSHaruko Kumakura, Glean 5
- 2022
- Kunstenaar Omar Adnan Chowdhury houdt van ontregelen, zoveel is zekerKees Keijer, Het Parool
- 2020
- Ke ba kahara’s conceptual performance ‘Faydabad To-Let’ impressesRasheek Tabassum Mondira, The Daily Star
- 2020
- Faydabad To-Let: An architectural performance evoking modernist nostalgiaZahangir Alom, The Business Standard
- 2020
- Faydabad To LetBonik Barta
- 2019
- ALIAS, de stadstentoonstelling van Netwerk AalstPieter Vermeulen, HART
- 2019
- Alias in Aalst, Voor een alternatief burgerschapTamara Beheydt, Metropolis M
- 2019
- Bij de Open Studios van de RijksakademieMerel Bem and Anna van Leeuwen, de Volkskrant
- 2019
- Open Studios 2019Puck Kroon, Mister Motley
- 2019
- Rijksakademie Open Studios 2019: second opinionSanneke Huisman, Metropolis M
- 2017
- Critic’s Choice: Simon Asencio, Omar Chowdhury, Sean Crossley, Katja Mater, Margaux SchwarzEleanor Ivory Weber, Art Collector #80
- 2017
- Changing Places at The House MillSteven Bode, Film and Video Umbrella
- 2015
- Interview with OmarJane Somerville, Australian Art Collector
- 2015
- Rhythm within formNikki Lam, Peril
- 2014
- Experimental Film at the Dhaka Art SummitLotte Hoek, De Media Automatiek
- 2014
- Experiments with Faith and FormNicholas Forrest, Blouin Artinfo
- 2014
- A wilful disregard for conventionAndrew Frost, The Guardian
- 2014
- An Index of the DivineMurtaza Vali, Ways
- 2014
- Interview with Omar ChowdhuryLucy Rees, ARTAND Australia
- 2014
- Arts Review: WaysNaomi Gall, The AU Review
- 2014
- Interview with Omar ChowdhuryNick Garner, Das Platforms
- 2014
- Interview with Omar ChowdhuryLinda Mottram, ABC 702 Sydney Mornings
- 2014
- Means, ALASKA ProjectsStella Rose, The Art Life
- 2014
- Omar Chowdhury: MeansAnnie Murney, Concrete Playground
Residencies
- 2027*
- PAiR Residency (forthcoming)VV Foundation, Pāvilosta, Latvia
- 2025
- Research residencyBlank Canvas, Penang
- 2018
- CSAV ResidencyAntonio Ratti Foundation, Como
- 2015
- Eight-week residencyBengal Foundation, Dhaka
- 2014
- Six-week residencyMOMENTUM, Berlin
Teaching
- 2024
- LectureLUCA, Brussels
- 2024
- LectureSint Lucas, Antwerp
- 2023
- MA practice presentation and visitsSint Lucas, Antwerp
- 2020
- MA studio instructionSint Lucas, Antwerp
- 2020
- BA final juriesSint Lucas, Ghent