Shatotto
788259465_122172042806697708_8215604738604435805_n

Rafiq Azam : Old Dhaka New Story- A Journey by Boat

28-07-2026

Every meaningful journey begins with a return. Nearly four decades ago, a young boy from the narrow lanes of Old Dhaka would cross the Buriganga by boat. He travelled not in search of architecture, but in search of landscapes, riverbanks washed by light, villages emerging from mist, and reflections trembling upon water. As the city expanded, rivers disappeared beneath concrete, courtyards gave way to congestion, and the distance between people, nature, and community grew wider. Dhaka became one of the most densely populated cities on earth. Yet beneath its apparent chaos remained another city, an invisible city of memories, waterways, stories, and human encounters waiting to be rediscovered.

This exhibition is a journey by boat to that city. The boat becomes both vessel and metaphor, carrying us through remembered landscapes and forgotten connections. The projects presented here are not monuments. They are acts of synthesis, between city and river, between art and architecture, between density and openness, between contemporary life and timeless wisdom.

In the end, this exhibition is not a story about buildings. It is the story of a return: a return to the river that shaped a childhood, a return to the neighbourhoods that shaped an imagination, and a return to Old Dhaka, not as a place left behind, but as a source of knowledge for the future.

Presented as Prof. Rafiq Azam’s 5th solo ArTchitectural Exhibition, "Old Dhaka – New Story: A Journey by Boat" was held at The Project Room (UR-MU), The Toffee, from 28 July to 23 August 2026. The exhibition brought together architecture, memory, landscape, installation, moving image, and spatial storytelling to extend the narrative of Old Dhaka into an international cultural context.

Curated by SHATOTTO PDC
SHEHAB RAHMANIA
Head of PDC (Research & Curatorial Lead)
Exhibition Designers
FABLIHA AL TAWAFFIN (Research Architect)
N M SHAMSUL ISLAM (Research Architect)
Exhibition Executors
AARAF DAYAD AZAM (Head of PDC)
FABLIHA AL TAWAFFIN (Research Architect)

Malaysian Team
HUAK HUAK SDN BHD (Exhibition Setup)
FILAMEN (Mediart)
KARAFURU VISUALS (Photography & Videography)

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