‘Bang Bang’: Unique and fascinating Swiss art in Dhaka

Art is the balanced coordination of imagination, thought process, and effort. Art might not always need recognition, but to be able to invoke any kind of feeling inside a spectator, even only one person (or maybe an animal) makes an art worth gazing upon, even if that one spectator is the artist themselves. We often see unconventional art that keeps us wondering just how many dimensions an artist can reach through their art.

I have an affinity towards the multidimensional, unhinged, raw, and intriguing, art that stir me up. Scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, I came across one such art exhibition titled 'Bang Bang' by Augustin Rebetez ft Sendrine Pelletier, inaugurated at Dwip Gallery on October 17, 2025. Upon entering, I was met with 'Vitamin' –a video art by Augustin that exposes the millennial struggles and geopolitics through sarcasm, and yet tells us a person's innermost thoughts, sometimes as a hopeless romantic, and other times, as a nihilist. But the relatability of this excites the soul just like vitamins to the body.

The huge human skull painted by Augustin with teardrop shapes symbolises a person's grief but it is still left for interpretation. Through his photographs –one of them with a human totem, he brought out the innermost primitiveness of humans. He explained that no matter how advanced we are as a species, those unfiltered urges, those raw emotions, the never-ending need and instincts for survival and connection never go away. One of his books is a guide for life, containing useful life advice with illustrations while his book 'Primitive Manifesto' introduces a dystopian take to our primitive natures.

Augustin has also made a movie with people doing random crazy things like smashing, breaking stuff, jumping, running around, screaming and laughing to give the viewers an ASMR depicting the chaos of Dhaka. The addition of his horror themed stop-motion film speaks of the artist's editorial and directorial abilities as well as his creativity. But the funniest work was his photo manipulation of random internet cats with the purpose of turning something cute into monsters. However, the light box of volcanic eruption called "Burn baby burn" is my favourite as it depicts feminine rage during menstruation.

Speaking of cats, artist Sendrine has dedicated an entire book containing photographs of her art to her beloved cat Figaro. She has exemplary skills in embroidery which she displayed at the gallery, portraying the war torn West Asian (commonly known as the middle east) and Egyptian territories. The bombs and missiles which at first look like fireworks, were weapons to destroy civilisations and fellow humans. There was also a sculpture of two limes –symbolising two friends who grew up in Palestine but torn apart by the conflict, displacement, and genocide. Lime bears a significant cultural, religious, and historical importance in Palestine.

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In short, 'Bang Bang' was a whole new kind of artistic experience for art enthusiasts in Bangladesh. Both the artists had been working with our local artists and hope to come back to Bangladesh for more adventures. Dwip Gallery ran the exhibition till 30th October.