Villa Swagatam

"Being selected by Villa Swagatam to work with Brihatta Art Foundation is an honor in the context of climate urgency. The Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, facing 1.40m sea level rise by 2100, represents a critical laboratory for rethinking water relationships. Through 'Rivers' Threads,' we'll develop cultural adaptation methodology for deltaic populations worldwide, creating bridges between ancestral knowledge and climate adaptation while accompanying frontline communities as environmental upheavals reshape their territories."

Clémence Vazard is a French transdisciplinary artist exploring invisible connections between living beings and environment through collaborative research-creation methodology. Distinguished graduate of Central Saint Martins' MA Art & Science (London), she has exhibited internationally and developed monumental participatory projects like "Palabras del Amazonas" in Ecuador (300 participants). Recipient of the ADAGP Research Fund for "La Parole de l'Eau" (2023), she has been in residency in Ecuadorian Amazon, Morocco, and LUMA Ateliers (Arles). Her recent work uses natural dyeing to reveal relationships between humans, waters, and plants within a collaborative ecology framework.

Brihatta Art Foundation hosted French artist Julia Lebrao Sendra for a three-month residency in Bangladesh in 2024, where she engaged deeply with local artistic landscapes. The residency culminated in a seven-day exhibition at Alliance Française de Dhaka, presenting her artistic journey and the evolving cultural dialogue between South Asia and Europe.

"The Buriganga river in Dhaka will be the focus of my artistic exploration, inspiring reflections on water—a key theme in my work. At Brihatta Art Foundation, I plan to investigate the river and its pollution through a multidisciplinary approach, addressing the environmental impact of human activity. My goal is to create art that promotes healing and acknowledges the damage done to nature."

Julia Lebrao Sendra, a Franco-Brazilian printmaker with a master’s degree in printmaking, has exhibited in Brussels, Leipzig, London, Geneva, and Cluj Napoca. Her work defends imagination as a means to engage with and act upon the world. By transforming drawing into engraving and textile art, Julia Lebrao Sendra creates pieces that challenge viewers to engage deeply, with vibrant colours and evolving shapes that interact with personal mythologies and daily realities. Her art encourages a dialogue between the viewer’s perspective and the work itself.