Article on the my first devMEET in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Read bitches, it's all gooey and stuff.

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Back in 2005, I had just moved to

China for university after finishing

high school in Thailand. It was a

brand new country with brand new

language(s), culture, people, everything. Like

everyone who graduates from high school

and moves onto the next step, I missed my

friends and my old life.

Around the same time, I remembered that

I had opened an account on an art

community website, deviantART.com. It was

a website where anyone could open a free

account, upload artwork into categories

ranging from digital art to photography to

traditional, discuss and network with other

artists from around the globe.

So, instead of making the rational

decision of getting myself out there and

making new friends, I decided to get more

active in this amazing online community. At

one point, I'm pretty sure it could've been

classed as an addiction. I was hastily getting

out of my classes just so I could take the bus

back home and get on dA! There were

artworks to browse, people to 'meet', forum

threads to conquer. It was WILD. Eventually,

I was offered to join the volunteering teams

to moderate forums and chatrooms. For

those who are into online communities, you

know what that's like – instant (online)

celebrity status. Needless to say, my social

life at that point was next to non-existent,

but I couldn't care less. Over the next three

years, as I graduated university and started

to work, I began to have less and less time to

spend online. Eventually I had to give up my

volunteer position. Even then, I'd visit dA

once a week. I truly believe that the amount

of talented artists that I met online did

shape me as a graphic designer today, and

that's something no one can forget easily.

Fast forward to 2011. I returned to Dhaka

after almost 10 years. The experience of just

being back here deserves it's own page. Let's

just say it was almost a new China for me:

leaving my old friends and life behind, again.

I do have family here, but when I returned I

had only one or two friends. Thankfully,

Facebook changed that, and in a few months

I was re-discovering old friends and

classmates from my school here, and

catching up with everyone and all. I still

missed the company of 'creatives' –

photographers, artists, designers, and

painters – though, my usual social circles

back in China. That's when I discovered this

group on Facebook: Bangladeshi Deviant –

the biggest Bangladeshi group on

deviantART.com. I had to join straight away. The

excitement of a potential meet-up – or as they

call it, a devMEET – in Dhaka would be an

amazing thing to miss out on. I contacted the

founders straight away; just as I suspected, they

were bred from the same love of art like me.

After that, it was only a matter of few weeks

of brainstorming, running around, staying up at

nights, and even studying(!); the event was on.

Untitled 1 – A Street Exhibition was held on 24

February 2012 at the University of Asia Pacific

campus. There were 100+ pieces of artwork,

ranging from digital, mixed media, traditional to

photography, all from the Bangladeshi Deviant

group, along with Graphics and Animation

Association (GRAFA) and School of Everything

Else (SEE). One of the truly amazing things about

the exhibition was that the collective work was

done by very young folks. I'd say almost 90 per

cent came from students and hobbyists, while

the rest from professional designers and artists.

Along with the exhibition, there were live

unplugged musical performances by our local

indie guys Blunderware, Biporit, Naïve, and Our

Lady of Bengal, with a lucky last-minute

performance by Norwegian flutist Ingeborg

Christophersen. The casual jamming of these

musicians set the perfect mood throughout the

event. There was a focus on art, a focus on music

and a focus on mingling, getting to know each

other, networking and so much more.

As the sun set, we moved on to the third and

final act – a light graffiti photography session

that anyone could take part in. Anyone that

could hold a light source and move around in

front of a camera for 5-8 seconds were

encouraged (maybe even forced) to jump straight

in. At the end of the day, the event went better

than I'd ever dreamt of.

Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but

this is what Dhaka needs more of: an open

mingling of like-minded people, of course in a

safe place. If you'd like to be part of an amazing

and fast growing arts community, do join the

Bangladeshi Deviant group on Facebook and

deviantART; it's an amazing place to be. Maybe,

at the next event, it will be your artwork right up

there on the wall.