Le Méridien Dhaka and Bengal Art Lounge, a leading art gallery in the country signed a non-commercial partnership in July to help guests of the hotel to better engage in the local contemporary art scene. The partnership is critical for the rollout of one of the brand programmes of Le Méridien, Unlock Art. The agreement has been signed by Managing Director Nawshin Khair and Director Luva Nahid Choudhury of Bengal Art Lounge and by General Manager Ashwani Nayar and Marketing Communications Manager Zaireen Sultana Lupa of Le Méridien Dhaka. Manager of Bengal Art Lounge Hadrien Diez and Experience Specialist of Le Méridien Dhaka Rose Delos Reyes were present at the event.
Under the terms of the Unlock Art Partnership, guests of Le Méridien Dhaka will be encouraged to visit the local contemporary cultural centre throughout the year at Bengal Art Lounge. Furthermore, Bengal Art Lounge will also provide a cultural experience directly to the guests of Le Méridien Dhaka by organising arts-related events in the premises of the hotel on a periodical basis.
Hotels under the brand have been establishing this unique partnership with contemporary cultural centres within their destinations across the world to provide guests with easy access to ‘unlocking’ a local contemporary cultural experience. Unlock Art Partnerships aim to present to all guests of Le Méridien a doorway to a new perspective that are executed in an original, refined and sophisticated way.
“Le Méridien Dhaka expects to add a completely new dimension of hospitality in Bangladesh,” summarised Ashwani Nayar. “We are an arts and design inspired hotel with a substantial collection of contemporary art installations ourselves. And now the Unlock Art programme will help us to gain momentum where our guests may visit Bengal Art Lounge to view works of contemporary Bangladeshi artists.”
“This partnership is in line with our strategy to project a culturally rich Bangladesh to global audiences,” explained Luva Nahid Choudhury. “Bengal Art Lounge is a platform where the public can engage with the creativity of Bangladeshi contemporary artists, and we are delighted to propose this experience to the distinguished guests of Le Méridien,” added Nawshin Khair.
Guests of Le Méridien are, upon check-in, presented with collectible keycards designed by commissioned LM100 artists that open more than guestrooms and suites; they provide special access to partner local cultural centres, allowing them to witness artistic expressions of how present-day events affect the society – an opportunity that Le Méridien guests of Dhaka may now enthusiastically look forward to.
The LM100 artists are each known for a select area of art. Yan Lei born in Hebei, China is one of the most influential and prominent artists internationally as well as locally. He is best known for his minimalist abstracts featuring portraits of blurry and confused scenes. :MentalKlinik, the artist duo from Istanbul, is renowned for pushing the limits of interdisciplinary methods so as to incorporate sound, text, action, object and form in their work. Jimmy Cohrssen, on the other hand, garnered worldwide acclaim for his lighting skills and mastery of commercial and architectural photography.