ASHMOLEAN NOW: SOMA SUROVI JANNAT

This contemporary exhibition presents artwork by emerging Bangladeshi artist Soma Surovi Jannat. Her extraordinary drawings take inspiration from mangrove swamps and the Ashmolean collections to address the climate crisis. This is the fifth in the Ashmolean NOW exhibition series, where contemporary artists are invited to create new work inspired by the Ashmolean’s historical collections.

This exhibition showcases the work of Bangladeshi artist Soma Surovi Jannat, who draws inspiration from the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, and the Ashmolean collections to address the climate crisis. Her art reflects on environmental issues and the interconnectedness of nature and humanity, especially in Bangladesh, where the Sundarbans, faces threats from climate change. In her paintings and drawings, capturing urgent global and environmental issues, Surovi critiques the link between natural disasters and social inequalities.

As the first Bangladeshi artist-in-residence at the Ashmolean, this exhibition marks Surovi's debut solo show in the UK and also the first solo exhibition of a Bangladesh-based artist in a museum in the UK. This exhibition will focus on Surovi’s new works and include Ashmolean objects that inspired some of her imagined landscapes. Between the Sea and the Sky, Who Holds the Ground?

(sections), 30-ft scroll, Soma Surovi Jannat, 2024-25, archival ink pen on paper, acrylic colour, gold & silver leaf. About 40 objects will be on display, including various works on paper, a 30-foot-long scroll, and an ephemeral drawing which she will be completing on the gallery’s wall. Where every leaf holds a tale (2 of 8 paintings), Soma Surovi Jannat, 2023, archival ink pen on paper, acrylic colour, gold & silver leaf.

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