To achieve this, the museum must embody the ruh of 2024, transforming it into a living cultural phenomenon. This vision may involve, for example, gathering individuals from across Bangladesh and situating them in places such as Bosila and Mirpur. These spaces will serve as epicenters of a grand cultural convergence, where evenings resonate with qawwali, poetry, and communal gatherings. Central to this initiative is the collective preparation of biryani, a dish requiring 40 ingredients. Each group will source these ingredients not through monetary transactions but through small offerings (mushti vikkha), fostering a profound sense of community and interdependence. Participants will directly engage with local populations, creating a performative act of cultural exchange that will be meticulously documented through video. These recordings will form the foundation for subsequent artistic and intellectual engagements, including texts, seminars, and webinars, catalyzing a broader cultural dialogue.
The Spirit of the July Uprising: Memory, Amnesia, and the Museum
A Presentation by Ebad Rahaman
In the realm of cultural discourse, art operates within two primary modes of dissemination: the commercial, exemplified by art fairs, and the non-commercial, encompassing soft diplomacy and political engagement. Art, as a medium, embodies a collective conversation of the human mind, playing a pivotal role in constructing political identity. Yet, such a conversation remains conspicuously absent in the context of Bangladesh. This absence is further compounded by systematic efforts from neighboring India to construct a rhetorical framework that obstructs the emergence of Bangladesh’s political possibilities. However, art has the transformative potential to counter these forces, acting as a medium to interrogate and reassert identity. In this context, the emergence of the ruh or Geist of Bengali Muslim identity demands rigorous analysis, particularly as it relates to the crisis of modernity. Modernity, with its implicit hierarchies, privileges intellect as the supreme human faculty, marginalizing others in the process. This prioritization is not merely a lapse into amnesia but an active politics of erasure—one that eliminates alternative ways of knowing and being. Such an erasure forms the cornerstone of the neoliberal paradigm, which legitimizes the exploitation of resources and environmental destruction through the glorification of human rationality. Historically, humanity has responded to such crises through two dominant forms of romanticism: fascism and communism. The ruh of Bengali Muslim identity has historically awakened in three distinct phases. The first awakening dates to the Mahasiddha movement, spanning from the 8th to the 12th centuries, under the leadership of figures like Nāropa and Niguma. During this period, orthodox Sanskrit-speaking communities derogatorily referred to Muslims as neraneri. Over time, this term became emblematic of broader efforts to demean Muslims. Amid this historical continuity, the arrival of Sufis catalyzed a profound synthesis of Islamic, Vaishnavic and Buddhist traditions, reshaping the socio-religious fabric of the region. However, this period also reveals a recurring pattern of attacks on Muslim cultural markers, intensifying the anguish of their ruh. This first awakening found literary expression in the works of Shah Muhammad Sagir and Syed Sultan, who articulated the ethos of the simple Bengali person, embodying the region’s collective identity.
The second awakening of the Bengali Muslim Geist occurred during the colonial period. Move
ments such as the Battle of Balakot, the Faraizi Movement, the Wahhabi Movement, and the Fakir Rebellion emerged as collective responses to the deliberate erasure of Muslim history. The British colonial administration institutionalized the politics of erasure, as evidenced by the establishment of the Bengali Department at Fort William College in 1801, where efforts to purge Bengali history of Muslim contributions began. This systematic exclusion coincided with the rise of a Bengali Hindu middle class, which, influenced by figures like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, harbored antagonistic sentiments towards Muslims. The cultural reforms led by organizations such as the Brahmo Samaj and Dharmasabha further entrenched this exclusionary framework, culminating in events like the Mangal Shobhajatra in 1850 a procession framed as Bengali nationalism but rooted in cultural fascism. The third awakening of the Bengali Muslim Geist has emerged through the transformative events of the July Uprising of 2024. This resurgence, however, exists within a fraught landscape where cultural fascism remains embedded in Bengali nationalism, perpetuating an identity crisis for Bengali Muslims. The politics of erasure systematically dismantles Muslim identity, replacing it with an imposed Bengali nationalism. This erasure is not merely a loss of memory (amnesia); it confronts individuals with an existential void, destabilizing their sense of self and community.
The museum, in this context, represents a potent counterforce to the politics of erasure. Far from being a static repository of the past, it becomes a living entity, a keeper of truth intimately connected to the ruh. Memory, as preserved within the museum, is not a passive recollection but an active, embodied force. The ruh manifests as an intangible energy, felt viscerally through the body, awakening the Geist. This dynamic memory, when actively engaged, fosters cultural resilience, countering the forces of cultural and historical erasure. The 2024 uprising ignited a new wave of cultural resilience, sparking a collective yearning to reconnect with the sources of identity. Yet this resurgence remains fragile, at risk of dissipating unless consciously captured and preserved. Capturing the Geist becomes imperative, as it provides the foundation for constructing the logos—the conscious principle of identity and discourse. The challenge lies in uncovering the logos of Bengali Muslim identity and preserving the awakened ruh, thereby nurturing a cultural and intellectual framework for the future.
To achieve this, the museum must embody the ruh of 2024, transforming it into a living cultural phenomenon. This vision may involve, for example, gathering individuals from across Bangladesh and situating them in places such as Bosila and Mirpur. These spaces will serve as epicenters of a grand cultural convergence, where evenings resonate with qawwali, poetry, and communal gatherings. Central to this initiative is the collective preparation of biryani, a dish requiring 40 ingredients. Each group will source these ingredients not through monetary transactions but through small offerings (mushti vikkha), fostering a profound sense of community and interdependence. Participants will directly engage with local populations, creating a performative act of cultural exchange that will be meticulously documented through video. These recordings will form the foundation for subsequent artistic and intellectual engagements, including texts, seminars, and webinars, catalyzing a broader cultural dialogue.
This initiative transcends mere artistic expression, aiming to awaken the deepest appeals of the human soul. By connecting individuals to their collective memory, it creates a museum not confined to physical exhibits but existing as a dynamic, living entity. Through this convergence, the museum becomes a testament to life itself, preserving and amplifying the cultural and spiritual experiences of the people it represents. The process of constructing such a museum is not merely about preserving the past but about revitalizing memory in ways that resonate with tradition (tahzib), civilization (tamaddun), and ethos (adab). By rooting this initiative in the living traditions of the Bengali Muslim community, it holds the potential not only to counter the politics of erasure but also to establish a transformative cultural framework that sustains and nurture’s the cultural political aspirations in the face of ongoing challenges. In capturing the Geist and articulating the logos, the museum will become a revolutionary space for the affirmation of selfhood and collective memory, inheriting the ruh of the mass uprising of July 2024.