A new art fair, Art Dhaka, will hold its inaugural edition from 6 to 10 November at Aloki in Dhaka. Founded by Durjoy Rahman, Fahd Sattar, Nahar Khan and T. Aumia Khundkar, the fair brings together traditional, modern and contemporary art, and is the latest addition to a fast-growing South Asian fair calendar.

The artists Najmun Nahar Keya and Zihan Karim will lead the curatorial direction of the fair, while artist Fareha Zeba curates a dedicated print pavilion. A series of exhibitions, events and panel talks discussing the arts and culture landscape in Bangladesh will run throughout the week alongside the main fair.

The participating artist list runs to well over a hundred names and spans generations of Bangladeshi art. It includes modern masters such as Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hassan, S. M. Sultan, Safiuddin Ahmed and Novera Ahmed, alongside established contemporary figures including Shahabuddin Ahmed, Dhali Al Mamoon, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Mahbubur Rahman and Shishir Bhattacharjee, as well as younger artists such as Anika Raisa Amin, Faiaz Rafid, Promotesh Das Pulak and Wakilur Rahman.

The fair also gives space to artist-led initiatives, with the Brihatta Art Foundation and Gidree Bawlee among the participants. Other participants include the sculptor Hamiduzzaman Khan, painter Kalidas Karmakar, printmaker Monirul Islam and photographer Sarker Protick. By gathering such a broad sweep of the country's art in a single venue, the organisers are positioning Art Dhaka as a showcase for Bangladesh's art scene at home, at a moment when South Asian art is drawing growing international attention.