In Bengali, ‘Anka’ signifies both the act of drawing and the drawing itself. It is when thought becomes visible, and the hand traces the contours of imagination. ‘Banka,’ on the other hand, speaks of something aslant, indirect. It suggests a deviation, a path that meanders rather than rushes straight ahead.

The phrase ‘Anka-Banka’ conjures the image of a winding river or a serpentine path, forever shifting. It is an apt metaphor for life and art, where the journey is often more significant than the destination, where meaning is found in the curves and bends rather than in a straight line.

This edition of the Biennale embraces this very spirit with a contemporary outlook. It embodies the idea of always finding a way, of moving forward through twists and turns and celebrating the vitality that emerges from such movement. Here, in this gathering of artists and their works and installations, we witness the spirit of ‘Anka-Banka,’ the relentless pursuit of expression marked in the journey.

The encounter between past and present, the local and the global, is not a simple juxtaposition but an intricate conversation—a living, breathing exchange where each element reshapes and reinvigorates the other within a discursive framework; each force or idea is seen, felt, and understood through the interplay with its counterpart—a dance of dialectics striving for synthesis. Moreover, what appears as counterpoints often reveal new harmonies.

ConclusionThe history of art in Bengal has drawn its strength from such confluence of cultures. Take, for example, Abanindranath’s move away from his training in Western realism to the reclamation of indigenous traditions, which in turn was pushed by Rabindranath towards an engagement with the living realities of rural life and nature and further towards Pan-Asianism and eventually towards a meeting of the East and West. A case in point is the Arabian Nights paintings of Abanindranath, and the Cubist works of Gaganendranath taking shape within the Jorasanko household.

In this edition, contemporary cross-currents reveal themselves in moments of intersections, where boundaries dissolve and new forms arise. Science reshapes art’s contours; fashion takes on the weight of resistance, weaving politics into cloth; abstract formalism speaks not from a distance but as a questioning of socio-political reality. Music finds a second life in the lens of photography, echoing across still frames. Art resides comfortably in museums and on mud walls, democratising and making it accessible. Moreover, artist and artwork become inseparable as durational pieces and self-portraits blur the edges. Paintings unfurl into scrolls; imagined archaeological sites unearth the shadows of possible futures. In the heart of a metropolis, we witness the profound shifts migration brings to village life, while we look at the alienation that creeps in with urbanisation into a space once conceived as an ashram. In this moment, we also glimpse how the construct of mediatic realism collides with the troubling reality of present-day media manipulation. Each discipline and practice broadens and redefines the other at these intersections, forging a dialogue that uncovers the layered understanding of art today.

Anka-Banka: Through Cross-Currents casts a contemporary gaze within Bengal’s enduring ethos of cultural exchange and intellectual pursuit, urging us not only to ponder our histories but engage with the present and envision new horizons. This synthesis of tradition and modernity, home and the world, transcends temporal and spatial confines, fostering a deeper understanding of art’s transformative power within newer discourses. In its inaugural edition, the Bengal Biennale celebrates this cross-cultural encounter as a catalyst for change. It crafts an inclusive, immersive art experience, spotlighting the works of masters, amplifying underrepresented voices, nurturing emerging talents, and fortifying the art ecosystem, hoping to leave a lasting imprint on Bengal’s artistic landscape and beyond.