In the Gallery Cosmos studio of Cosmos Atelier71 in Malibagh, Dhaka, familiar worlds are being translated through unfamiliar processes.

For nearly two decades, the studio has offered artists a space to work, experiment and exchange ideas, with printmaking at the heart of much of its practice. Now, as the 2026 Gallery Cosmos Artist Residency Programme gets underway, three young artists are bringing their own observations, memories and artistic concerns into that continuing tradition.

Md Fariaz Emran, Niharika Awhona Barsaat and Surovi Akter are spending four months, from September to December, exploring different printmaking media while remaining rooted in the visual languages they have developed through painting and portraiture.

For Fariaz, the city is an enduring source of inspiration. The rickshaws, buildings, overhead wires and everyday movements of Old Dhaka, where he grew up, have long found their way into his paintings, watercolours and installations. For Niharika, women and nature form the centre of her artistic vocabulary, while Surovi's practice has largely revolved around portraiture and the expressive possibilities of the human eye.

At Cosmos Atelier71, these different artistic journeys now converge in a shared space of experimentation.

The residency is part of a much longer commitment by Gallery Cosmos to creating an active environment for artistic practice.

Cosmos Atelier71 has remained a living site of printmaking practice and artistic exchange for almost two decades. The studio sustains a continuous working environment, hosting local artists alongside international residency programmes that encourage cross-cultural dialogue and experimentation.

Over the years, Cosmos Atelier71 has hosted international artists from various countries, including Toshihiko Ikeda of Japan, Oona Hyland of Ireland, and Ma Baiqi, a master Chinese watercolourist. These residencies frequently culminate in exhibitions at Gallery Cosmos, strengthening the connection between studio-based practice and public presentation. Over the years, artists from Romania, Ireland, India, China, Japan, and others have visited and worked in this space.

Workshops form another vital pillar of the studio's activities. Each year, Cosmos Atelier71 organises intensive workshops in printmaking techniques including etching, woodcut, plate lithography, cyanotype and drypoint, led by master artists from Bangladesh and abroad. Among prominent international and Bangladeshi artists, eminent artists Rokeya Sultana and Anisuzzaman Anis have conducted multiple workshops in various printmaking media over the years.

Participants are selected from across the country, helping broaden access to artistic practice beyond Dhaka. Emerging and self-taught artists are actively encouraged through residencies, workshops and a year-long membership programme that brings together practitioners from diverse cultural fields. Alongside printmaking, the studio regularly organises workshops in ceramics, drawing and watercolour, while educational programmes with children form another part of its year-round activities.

This continuing commitment to printmaking carries the influence of the late artist Kalidas Karmakar, whose lifelong engagement with the medium was closely connected to the development of Cosmos Atelier71. His dedication to printmaking and experimentation helped shape a space where artists could work intensively with the medium beyond the conventional boundaries of gallery presentation.

The wider cultural vision behind this ecosystem is also rooted in the work of Enayetullah Khan, founder of United News of Bangladesh (UNB), Dhaka Courier and Gallery Cosmos. Through his cultural initiatives, Khan helped establish an institutional platform where journalism, contemporary art and cultural exchange could exist within a shared ecosystem. Gallery Cosmos and Cosmos Atelier71 continue to reflect that vision by creating opportunities for artists to develop their practices, encounter new ideas and connect their work with wider audiences.

Sourav Chowdhury, Artistic Director of Gallery Cosmos and Cosmos Atelier71, describes the Atelier as one of the country's largest multidisciplinary production studios.

"Cosmos Atelier71 is one of the largest multidisciplinary and production-oriented studios in Bangladesh. The studio has remained functional over the years, and numerous artists have worked and continue to work here," he says.

The residency, he adds, reflects Gallery Cosmos's longstanding commitment to promoting young artists alongside established practitioners and facilitating exchanges between Bangladeshi and international artists.

"Cosmos has always brought artists from both within the country and abroad and shared their techniques with Bangladeshi artists," Chowdhury says. "In this way, we try to further develop the international movement and exchange around our studio."

The works produced during the residency are also intended to move beyond the studio. Gallery Cosmos has traditionally arranged exhibitions featuring works created through its residency programmes, and Chowdhury says there are similar plans for the current cohort.

For Fariaz, the residency is an opportunity to take a familiar subject, the city, into unfamiliar territory.

A graduate of Banaras Hindu University in India, where he completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with Mural as an optional specialisation, Fariaz has long been drawn to the visual character of Dhaka, particularly the streets of Old Dhaka where he grew up.

"We are exploring different printmaking media here while trying to retain our signature as a group," Fariaz says. "We are working around the city, particularly urban life."

Fariaz is one of the three members of the group Bohemian, alongside Niharika and Surovi. In June, the trio presented their first group exhibition, 'Tribandhon', at La Galerie of Alliance Française de Dhaka.

The exhibition brought together three distinct artistic practices around themes including identity, memory, nature, human connection and everyday life. Fariaz's works focused on the lives and surroundings of Dhaka, including rickshaw pullers and other often-overlooked figures of urban life.

The residency has allowed the three artists to continue their collaborative journey while exploring a new medium.

For Fariaz, that transition is particularly significant because his primary background is in painting.

"I am very grateful for this residency programme because doing printmaking at home would have been extremely difficult," he says. "Since my background is in painting, I had very little knowledge of printmaking. This opportunity has allowed me to explore it properly."

Niharika, who also studied at Banaras Hindu University, completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with Mural as an optional specialisation. After spending years in India, returning to Bangladesh meant reconnecting with a local art scene with which she had limited professional links.

"I had very little connection with galleries or senior artists in Bangladesh after completing my studies," Niharika says. "When I came back, I got the opportunity to work at Cosmos Gallery."

Her artistic practice centres on women and nature. In her earlier work, she primarily used acrylic and watercolour on canvas to translate observations and experiences from everyday life through colour.

At Atelier71, she is now attempting to carry those concerns into different printmaking media.

"I used to express the things I observed in everyday life mainly through colour on canvas," she says. "Now, through printmaking, I am exploring different media and trying to bring those same ideas into my work in new ways."

For Surovi, the residency represents an expansion of a practice already centred on portraiture.

A visual artist and graduate of the University of Development Alternative, where she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting, Surovi has primarily worked with portraits. Her practice focuses particularly on the expressive possibilities of the eye, using close observation to explore emotion, perception and human connection.

"Portraiture has always been at the centre of my regular practice," Surovi says. "Recently, however, I have started working with printmaking through our group, Bohemian."

The three artists are now using the four-month residency to further develop that shared exploration, with the possibility of presenting the resulting works in a future exhibition.

"We have plans to continue working together as a group, and perhaps these experiments will eventually become an exhibition," Surovi says. "I hope something good will come out of this opportunity."

The three artists have arrived at printmaking from different directions, but their residency has created a common space in which those practices can intersect.

For Fariaz, it is the city and its people. For Niharika, it is women, nature and everyday experience. For Surovi, it is the human face and the emotions contained within a gaze.

At Cosmos Atelier71, these familiar subjects are now being translated through unfamiliar processes.

And that is perhaps where the value of the residency lies: not in asking artists to abandon what they know, but in giving them the space, tools, and time to discover what else their ideas can become.