Alliance Française opens Chowkath exhibition on women, memory and Bengali home

Alliance Française de Dhaka on Friday inaugurated Chowkath, the second solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Sarah Jabin at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka.

The exhibition presents a compelling body of work exploring the relationship between women, domestic spaces, memory, identity and the cultural traditions passed down through generations of Bengali households.

The opening ceremony was attended by eminent artist and writer Mustafa Zaman, Baptiste Lebret, Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of France in Bangladesh and François Chambraud, Director of Alliance Française de Dhaka.

Drawing on research, personal observation and material culture, Chowkath examines the often-overlooked role of women as custodians of family memory and cultural heritage. The exhibition takes its title from the Bengali word chowkath, meaning a threshold or doorway, which serves as a symbolic space between the private and the public, the past and the present, and individual memory and collective history.

The exhibition features four distinct bodies of work, each engaging with these themes through a different material and artistic language.

In Bon Void, linocut prints trace the evolving identity of women from childhood to adulthood. The Diminished Time uses soap as a sculptural medium to revisit the architectural heritage of Old Dhaka homes from the 1950s to the 1990s, reflecting on the gradual disappearance of familiar domestic spaces.

The textile-based series Sharshi turns attention to household interiors and the enduring yet frequently overlooked presence of women within them. The exhibition is completed by delicate copper-wire line drawings that capture rituals, traditions and fragments of a cultural landscape slowly fading with time.

Through these works, Jabin positions herself as both an observer and a witness to a society in transition. Her practice brings together objects, spaces and memories that connect generations. For older audiences, the works may evoke memories of familiar homes, customs and lived experiences, while for younger viewers they offer a glimpse into the everyday worlds inhabited by their mothers and grandmothers.

By transforming the chowkath—the threshold—into a conceptual space of reflection, the exhibition invites viewers to consider what is preserved, what is lost, and what remains embedded in the spaces we call home.

With its focus on womanhood, domesticity, memory and cultural inheritance, Chowkath offers a deeply personal yet collectively resonant meditation on the changing landscape of Bengali life and the fragile narratives that connect generations.

The exhibition will remain open to the public until 8 August 2026.