Pulak K. Sarkar

Pulak K. Sarkar

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Interdisciplinary Visual Art and Research

Artist in Residence from April to June 2026

Pulak K. Sarkar is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher currently based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.. His practice spans painting, text, sound, site-specific/ para-fictional installations and site-activating actions grounded in research, critical theory and spatial politics. His work investigates space and structure, exploring how urban histories and spatial practices shape knowledge, identity, and cultural discourse, while analyzing the subtle mechanisms through which normalization operates within urban environments. Pulak is currently researching the liminal qualities of space as a critical zone and how built environments influence social organization.

In this residency, he aims to explore how the continued presence of Swiss bunkers, particularly those built in civilian areas, contributes to shaping social impact, identity, and national image. He is interested in how people talk about these structures today, how they relate to them in everyday life, and how, over time, these sites either become normalized or quietly fall into abandonment. He seeks to examine the broader implications of these structures and their role in constructing a larger, collective identity. This inquiry builds on his engagement with Korail in Dhaka, an informal settlement that emerged during a crisis in the late 1980s and continues to persist. Its fluid, relational, and negotiated spatial character contributes to identity formation within the broader context of the city. Ultimately, this inquiry does not seek to intervene; rather, he wants to remain within the process of observing and understanding, gradually grasping how another kind of space works, how people live within it, and how identity is formed through these ongoing processes.