‘Changing Grounds’ brings Bangladesh-UK artistic exchange to Dhaka

An exhibition titled “Changing Grounds”, featuring works by UK-based artist and filmmaker Zillah Bowes and Bangladeshi artist Turjo Mushfiq, began at DrikPath Bhobon in the capital’s Panthapath on Saturday.
The exhibition brings together two contrasting landscapes: the agricultural hills of Mid Wales and the dense, rapidly changing urban environment of Dhaka. Developed through a 10-month photography residency and exchange between Bangladesh and the UK, the project explores how people experience, shape and respond to places undergoing environmental and social change.
Zillah Bowes’ work, Open Hill, focuses on the landscapes and farming communities of Mid Wales, reflecting on biodiversity loss, erosion, wildfire and the efforts of communities to restore and care for the land. 
Turjo Mushfiq’s Living Ruins turns to Dhaka, exploring the remaining spaces where nature, memory and everyday life persist alongside the city’s rapid expansion. Although rooted in very different geographical and social contexts, the two bodies of work share an interest in land, memory, community and belonging. 
The residency offered both artists an opportunity to look beyond their immediate surroundings and encounter another landscape through research, walking, observation, conversation and photography.
“Changing Grounds” opened simultaneously in Dhaka and Birmingham, connecting the two
locations through the artists’ work and the experience of the residency.
The project is part of the Connections Through Culture (CTC) Programme, supported by the British Council Bangladesh, and the International Residency Programme jointly organised by Pathshala South Asian Media Institute and Grain Projects CIC, UK.
Bowes is an artist and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary practice spans photography, film, installation and poetry. Her work focuses on climate change, biodiversity and the relationship between people and the natural environment.
Mushfiq is an artist, educator and book maker whose multidisciplinary practice uses photography as a starting point to explore personal and collective experiences through sculpture, staging, text and image.
His works have been exhibited at Rencontres d’Arles, Lumix Festival, Dok Festival and VOLUMES – Art Publishing Days. He co-curated Bubbles in 2022 and served as Associate Curator for Chobi Mela 0 in 2021 and Chobi Mela XI in 2026. An alumnus of Pathshala and the University of the Arts London, he currently teaches at Pathshala.
“Changing Grounds” will remain open until October 3 at Level 8 of DrikPath Bhobon. The exhibition is open daily from 3:00pm to 8:00pm.