Rajeeb Samdani

He started his career as a commodity broker with Stemcor at age 23.{{cite news |title=Rajeeb Samdani |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2012/anniversary_2012/section3/pf7.htm |work=21 Anniversary Supplement |publisher=The Daily Star |date=2012}} In 1999, he founded Golden Harvest InfoTech Limited. As the managing director of Golden Harvest Group he expanded the conglomerate beyond information technology into food, logistics, insurance, and real estate.{{cite news |last1=Alom |first1=Zahangir |date=18 February 2021 |title=Rajeeb Samdani: Harvesting Bangladesh’s potential in art and business |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/feature/panorama/rajeeb-samdani-harvesting-bangladeshs-potential-art-and-business-203620 |work=The Business Standard |language=en}}{{cite news |last=Shah |first=Gayatri Rangachari |date=4 December 2013 |title=Putting Bangladesh on the Arts Map |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/arts/international/putting-bangladesh-on-the-arts-map.html?_r=0 |newspaper=The New York Times}}

Samdani is a trustee and secretary general of the Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, and founder of the Alvina Samdani Trust and Taher Ahmed Choudhury Charitable Hospital.

Along with his wife Nadia Samdani, Rajeeb Samdani has collected over 2,000 artworks.{{cite web |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/breaking-new-ground-for-contemporary-art-in-bangladesh |title=Breaking New Ground for Contemporary Art in Bangladesh |last=Harris |first=Gareth |date=6 February 2018 |website=Sothebys}}

Samdani Art Foundation was established in 2011 by Rajeeb Samdani and his wife Nadia Samdani. The foundation is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh and supports country's contemporary art and architecture. Through the foundation, Samdani funded the Kunsthalle Basel's first exhibition of a South Asian artist, Naeem Mohaiemen in 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.kunsthallebasel.ch/en/exhibition/prisoners-of-shothik-itihash/ |title=Prisoner of Shothik Itihash |website=Kunsthalle Basel}} The foundation is a donor for the 56th International Biennale di Venezia, supporting the projects of artists Naeem Mohaiemen and Raqs Media Collective in the main Biennale exhibition: All the World's Futures.{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Gareth |date=1 May 2015 |title=Foundations set the pace in Venice |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c08e31f2-ea66-11e4-96ec-00144feab7de |work=Financial Times}} Bangladeshi-British artist Rana Begum's first major institutional solo exhibition at Parasol Unit, London was also supported through Samdani Art Foundation in 2016.{{cite web |url=http://parasol-unit.org/whats-on/rana-begum-space/ |title=Rana Begum: The Space Between |website=Parasol Unit}} They also support Bangladeshi artists to produce works for exhibitions. Some of the supported exhibitions are the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014, Shanghai Biennale 2016, and Kunsthalle Zurich.{{cite web |url=http://kochimuzirisbiennale.org/project-support/ |title=Artist Project Support |website=Kochi-Muziris Biennale |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226025329/http://kochimuzirisbiennale.org/project-support/ |archive-date=2016-12-26}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.shanghaibiennale.org/en/organization/showlist.html |title=Power Station of Art |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227141045/http://www.shanghaibiennale.org/en/organization/showlist.html |archive-date=2016-12-27}}{{cite web |url=http://kunsthallezurich.ch/en/speak-lokal |title=Speak Lokal |website=Kunsthalle Zurich |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125133230/http://kunsthallezurich.ch/en/speak-lokal |archive-date=2022-01-25}} The foundation supports emerging artists and architects with the biannual Samdani Art and Samdani Architecture awards.{{cite news |title=Samdani Architecture Award Winner Announced |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/lifestyle/news-flash/samdani-architecture-award-winner-announced-1464085 |work=The Daily Star |date=19 September 2018}}{{cite news |last=Alom |first=Zahangir |date=4 February 2018 |title=Bangladeshi Art and Architecture Go Global |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/arts-entertainment/event/bangladeshi-art-and-architecture-go-global-1529416 |work=The Daily Star}}

Another program of the foundation, The Samdani Artist-Led Initiatives Forum launched on 13 April 2017 supports the work of Bangladesh's independently established and self-funded art collectives and initiatives.{{cite web |url=https://theartling.com/en/artzine/2018/02/05/re-examinations-on-the-function-of-art-dhaka-art-summit-2018/ |title=Re-Examinations on the Function of Art: Dhaka Art Summit 2018 |work=The Artling |date=5 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116131738/https://theartling.com/en/artzine/re-examinations-on-the-function-of-art-dhaka-art-summit-2018/ |archive-date=2019-11-16}}

The Samdanis have organised the Dhaka Art Summit, a non-profit event funded by Samdani Art Foundation from 2012. It attracted more than 50,000 visitors its first year.{{cite news |last=Reaz |first=Shaer |date=13 February 2014 |title=Where Lines Went for Walks |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/where-lines-went-for-walks-10877 |work=The Daily Star}}{{cite news |last=Nag |first=Ashoke |date=5 November 2013 |title=Samdani Art Foundation to stage second edition of Dhaka Art Summit |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/art/samdani-art-foundation-to-stage-second-edition-of-dhaka-art-summit/articleshow/25268705.cms |work=The Economic Times}} Dhaka Art Summit takes place in every two years at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.{{Cite news |last=Pathak |first=Nilima |date=31 January 2018 |url=https://gulfnews.com/culture/arts/300-artists-10-exhibitions-at-dhaka-art-summit-1.2166088#.WnMO1lTH-wI.hotmail |title=300 artists, 10 exhibitions at Dhaka Art Summit |work=Gulf News}} The 5th edition of the Dhaka Art Summit took place from 7 to 15 February 2020 and drew 477,000 visitors.{{Cite web |url=https://www.themastonline.com/2020/02/25/mulling-over-art-bangladeshs-dhaka-art-summit-growing-platform-for-former-colonial-subjects/ |title=Mulling over Art: Bangladesh's Dhaka Art Summit, growing platform for former colonial subjects |website=The Mast |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226183052/https://www.themastonline.com/2020/02/25/mulling-over-art-bangladeshs-dhaka-art-summit-growing-platform-for-former-colonial-subjects/ |archive-date=2020-02-26}}

Their new initiative is the Srihatta—Samdani Art Centre and Sculpture Park, which is the forthcoming permanent art space established under the Samdani Art Foundation.{{Cite web |url=http://thepeakmagazine.com.sg/lifestyle/billionaire-couple-started-dhaka-art-summit-bring-bangladesh-international-arts-scene/ |title=This billionaire couple started Dhaka Art Summit to bring Bangladesh to the international arts scene |date=28 February 2018 |website=The Peak}} Srihatta will be the first permanent dedicated space for the Foundation's programming and exhibition activities. The centre is designed by Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, who won the Agha Khan Award in 2016. This is also the country's first sculpture park and dedicated art space for international modern and contemporary art.{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.artnews.com/2017/05/12/samdani-art-foundation-unveils-plans-and-announces-programming-for-first-permanent-space/ |title=Samdani Art Foundation Unveils Plans for First Permanent Space |magazine=ARTnews |date=12 May 2017}}

The Samdanis are known for their local and international art collection.{{cite news |last=Shah |first=Ashiesh |date=12 January 2014 |title=Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/column-nadia-and-rajeeb-samdani-1945683 |work=dna}} Works from their collection have travelled to major exhibitions, such as the Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2014); Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India (2014); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2015); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2016); documenta 14 (2017); and Shanghai Biennale (2017).{{cite news |title=Promoting South Asian art, artists |url=https://www.newagebd.net/article/36690/promoting-south-asian-art-artists/article/35972 |work=New Age |date=13 March 2018 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Our Team |url=https://www.samdani.com.bd/our-team |website=Samdani Art Foundation}}

In 2017, Samdani and his wife received the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award for founding the Samdani Art Foundation and the Dhaka Art Summit.{{cite magazine |last=Shaikh |first=Ayesha |date=17 September 2017 |title=Montblanc De La Culture Arts Patronage Award Presented In Dubai |url=https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/art/news/montblanc-de-la-culture-arts-patronage-award-presented-in-dubai |magazine=Harpers Bazaar Arabia}} They were recognized on the Top 200 Collectors list by ARTnews from 2015 to 2020, The World's Top 100 Art Collectors 2016 by Artnet News.{{cite web |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/worlds-top-100-art-collectors-part-two-513953 |title=The artnet News Index: The World's Top 100 Art Collectors for 2016, Part Two |website=Artnet News |date=15 June 2016}} and the Power 100 list from 2015 through 2022 by ArtReview.{{cite magazine |url=https://artreview.com/artist/nadia-rajeeb-samdani-diana-campbell-betancourt/ |title=Power 100 |magazine=ArtReview}}

Samdani has spoken at several international institutions and events, including the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto,{{cite web |title=Royal Ontario Museum Announces Fall 2018 Lineup of Engaging Talks and Events |url=https://www.rom.on.ca/media-centre/news-release/royal-ontario-museum-announces-fall-2018-lineup-engaging-talks-and-events |website=Royal Ontario Museum |date=10 September 2018}} the University of California, Berkeley,{{cite web |title=Art @ Berkeley Events Archive |url=https://southasia.berkeley.edu/initiatives/artberkeley/events-archive |website=Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley}} Art Basel,{{cite web |title=Patronage as Practice: Developing Synergies Between Private and Public Institutions |url=https://www.artbasel.com/stories/patronage-as-practice-developing-synergies-between-private-and-public-institutions?lang=en |website=Art Basel}} the India Art Fair,{{cite web |title=Shaping Tomorrow Today: The Importance of Patronage in the Arts |url=https://indiaartfair.in/programme/shaping-tomorrow-today-the-importance-of-patronage-in-the-arts |website=India Art Fair}} and the World Conference on Creative Economy in Tashkent.{{cite web |title=World Conference on Creative Economy 2021 Programme |url=https://www.wcce.uz/wcce/files/wcce_programme_en.pdf |website=World Conference on Creative Economy}}

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Category:1974 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century Bangladeshi businesspeople