‘Peripheral Imaginaries’, a special art exhibition exploring the lives, struggles and aspirations of landless communities through their own artistic expressions opened at Bengal Shilpalay in the capital on Thursday, marking the 45th anniversary of rights organisation Nijera Kori.

The exhibition was inaugurated at 6 pm by artist Syed Abul Barq Alvi and Rahela Begum, a landless leader from Khulna.

Curated by Mahbubur Rahman, the three-day exhibition brings together works co-created by members of landless communities and artists from Britto Arts Trust, challenging conventional ideas about whose experiences are recognised as art and who has the authority to shape its narratives.

The exhibition explores how land, ecology, labour and everyday life shape the imagination of communities whose intimate knowledge of their surroundings often contrasts with the insecurity of their claims to the land.

For landless people, the struggle for rights unfolds alongside the daily demands of survival and constant negotiation with nature. While their labour sustains a modernity they have little power to shape, ordinary pleasures and the aspiration to build a life on land they can call their own remain integral to their experiences.

These concerns found material expression through art workshops involving landless community members from four Nijera Kori centres: Noai in Paikgacha, Khulna; Bagatipara in Natore; Char Jabbar in Noakhali; and Dhanbari in Tangail.

Using fabrics of different colours and prints, participants created works through appliqué and soft sculpture. The workshops brought their lived experiences into conversation with the approaches of urban artists, blurring the conventional distinction between art-makers and those whose lives are represented in artistic practice.

Initially, some participants were uncertain about how to approach the process. People accustomed to hard physical labour asked, "What do we have to do?" Adolescents expressed similar hesitation, asking, "How do we do it?"

They were encouraged to begin with whatever they liked and experiment in their own ways. As the workshops progressed, hesitation gave way to creative exploration, with each piece developing a distinct character through colour, pattern and form.

The resulting works evoke worlds rooted in the participants' lived experiences while reaching towards possibilities beyond their present circumstances. They invite viewers to reconsider the distance implied by the word ‘peripheral’ and question whose perspectives remain outside the recognised boundaries of art.

For Nijera Kori, cultural practice is part of a broader process through which people develop a critical understanding of the social and economic forces shaping their lives. Through songs, theatre and art, communities examine how inequalities are sustained, question established power relations and imagine possibilities for change.

Founded in 1980, Nijera Kori, meaning ‘we do it ourselves’, works alongside landless women and men in rural Bangladesh to build autonomous organisations through which they can collectively assert their rights.

By the end of 2025, the organisation's work encompassed 11,583 landless groups with 233,917 members across its working areas, including 6,757 women's groups. Through collective organising and mobilisation, these groups pursue rights over natural resources, demand accountability from public institutions, advance women's rights and challenge fundamentalism.

Organised in collaboration with Britto Arts Trust, the exhibition will remain open until October 31. Women's Bioscope will also be featured as part of the programme.

Visitors can view the exhibition at Bengal Shilpalay in Dhanmondi from 4 pm to 8 pm daily.