written by: News Desk

Dhaka is a city where even standing still can become a form of movement. Daily traffic congestion, the constant flow of people, waiting, crowded roads, and the continual transformation of buildings and infrastructure make the city resemble a living body—one with its own pulse, pressure, fatigue, contradictions, and aspirations. In his new solo exhibition, Anatomy of Transit, contemporary artist Kuntal Barai explores this constantly moving body of Dhaka.

In the exhibition, urban infrastructure does not appear merely as visible reality; rather, it becomes a metaphor for human life, psychology, and social relationships. Roads resemble arteries, intersections take on the character of vital organs, and vehicles become symbols of an urban body that is perpetually active. In Barai’s paintings, Dhaka is therefore more than a city—it becomes an experience, a psychological geography.

Seen from a distance, Dhaka appears to be an immense landscape of uninterrupted movement. Cars, buses, people, buildings, bridges, roads, and traffic signals seem to move within a single, relentless rhythm. Yet beneath this visible motion lie waiting, stagnation, uncertainty, pressure, and the daily struggle for survival. In Anatomy of Transit, Barai turns his attention to this space between the visible and invisible experiences of the city.

Barai’s solo exhibition opens on 15 August at Plat-forms Gallery in Gulshan 2, Dhaka, and will continue until 5 September 2026. The exhibition will open at 6 pm on 15 August.

When Movement Becomes More Than a Journey

For Kuntal Barai, movement is not simply the process of travelling from one place to another. It encompasses aspiration, displacement, uncertainty, everyday routines, and the constant negotiation between individuals and urban life.

Through this exhibition, the artist reconsiders the relationship between human movement and urban infrastructure. A road is no longer simply a road; a traffic signal becomes a moment of pause; a vehicle becomes a temporary private space or a site of isolation. An intersection, meanwhile, becomes a place where countless individual stories converge.

From this perspective, Anatomy of Transit is not merely a visual representation of traffic or transportation. It is an artistic inquiry into the position of the individual within the city, raising questions about identity, memory, isolation, and the sense of belonging.

The City as a Living Body

One of the defining characteristics of Kuntal Barai’s artistic practice is his approach to the city not simply as a visual subject, but as a space of psychological and social realities. A significant part of his artistic journey has focused on the transformation of Dhaka, its rapid expansion, urban disorder, and particularly the experience of traffic congestion. The dynamism and inherent contradictions of Dhaka have remained important themes throughout his practice.

In this continuity, Anatomy of Transit represents a new chapter in Barai’s longstanding exploration of the city. In his paintings, roads, vehicles, architecture, human figures, and abstract forms overlap to create layered compositions. As a result, familiar urban scenes become simultaneously recognizable and unsettling. Viewers are encouraged to rediscover their familiar city through an entirely different psychological map.

Barai’s work reflects a subtle synthesis of lived experience and artistic interpretation. His art neither directly imitates reality nor disappears completely into abstraction. Instead, lived experience, urban disorder, and the sensation of being lost come together to create a complex visual language.

Kuntal Barai: A Long Journey Through the City, People, and Art

Born in 1987 in Barishal, Kuntal Barai completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Fine Arts from the University of Development Alternative (UODA). In 2018, he held his first solo exhibition at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka. He has also participated in more than 70 group exhibitions at home and abroad.

Barai has received several recognitions for his artistic practice. Among his notable achievements are the Best Award at the 22nd Young Artist Art Exhibition in 2020 and an Honorable Award at the 17th Asian Art Biennale in 2016.

Another important dimension of Kuntal Barai’s artistic identity is his work as a curator. In July 2026, he curated Search Soul, Soil at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka. Featuring seven emerging contemporary artists, the exhibition explored the interconnectedness of soil, environment, memory, cultural heritage, and human existence through works in diverse media.

The movement from an exploration of soil and existence in Search Soul, Soil to an exploration of the city and movement in Anatomy of Transit reveals a shared concern within Barai’s artistic practice. While nature, soil, and the relationship between humanity and the earth remain important to his thinking, he also examines the crisis of human existence through concrete, roads, vehicles, and urban life.

The Human Being Within Movement

Anatomy of Transit is therefore not simply an exhibition centred on traffic or transportation. Rather, it poses a series of questions about the position of the individual within the city.

Within the familiar experiences of travelling along everyday roads, waiting at intersections, and spending hours inside vehicles, Barai searches for questions of identity, memory, isolation, and the human need for connection and belonging.

Barai’s Dhaka is not a static city. It is a moving body—with its own pulse, pressure, pain, and aspirations. Every road carries a story; every vehicle creates a temporary private space; and every traffic jam brings countless untold stories of urban life into close proximity.

Anatomy of Transit is an artistic invitation to look at those stories caught within the flow of everyday movement. In Kuntal Barai’s canvases, Dhaka is therefore more than a city. It becomes infrastructure, experience, and a psychological geography of human life.

Exhibition: Anatomy of Transit
Artist: Kuntal Barai
Venue: Plat-forms Gallery, House 12/B, 5th Floor, Road 55, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212
Opening: 15 August 2026, 6:00 pm
Exhibition period: 15 August–5 September 2026
Gallery hours: 11:00 am–8:00 pm

Watch Kuntal Barai’s video:

https://youtu.be/qPovpwSgHJ0?si=ik6UqZ-Eo7yX5cQg

https://youtu.be/fj8U-k86BCY?si=5-FwBOEJsKCKk2A2

Visit artist portfolio: https://kuntal.art/