LONDON.- Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF) announces long-term collaborations with the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, at a time when both institutions are undertaking significant structural developments and a conscious repositioning of their South Asian collections and programming.

Aligned with DBF’s mission to act as catalyst for the increased international engagement and recognition of art from the wider South Asian region and its home base of Bangladesh, the partnerships aim to develop new long-term dialogues and interconnections between South Asian artists and the international cultural community, as well as for them to find homes in European and US cities with significant South Asian diaspora communities.

Specifically, the V&A programme establishes a five-year acquisition fund for modern and contemporary works by makers from Bangladesh and the diaspora for the V&A’s collection, to coincide with the re-opening of the South Asia Gallery in 2028, following extensive refurbishment. The programme will also support a commission by an artist from Bangladesh or the diaspora at the soon to open V&A East Museum. DBF will additionally support research trips by V&A curatorial and academic experts to Bangladesh over the next few years, as part of projects’ development and extensive research on the region.

Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A: “We are so pleased with DBF’s generous pledge to support the V&A's collecting and understanding of work by artists from Bangladesh and the diaspora. As we look towards the refurbishment of the South Asia Gallery, and an upcoming programme that further explores the region, I am delighted with this support that will ensure Bangladesh is well represented in our future activities.”

Across the Atlantic, with the new David Geffen Galleries opening in 2026, LACMA will be presenting art with a new perspective: a contemporary, global vantage point with local resonance. At the core of the collaboration, DBF will enable a new fellowship position within the LACMA’s Director’s Office, the ‘Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation Fellow’, aimed at nurturing diverse, future museum leaders and focusing on the museum’s collecting strategy, research and public programming of South Asian Art. Over the course of the partnership, DBF will work closely with LACMA’s senior leadership to identify and collect contemporary South Asian artworks from around the globe, and to develop an artist residency program for South Asian Artists in Los Angeles.

Michael Govan, CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director of LACMA: "With the support of the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation, LACMA has the opportunity to double down on our commitment to boost and foster the scholarship, collection and presentation of South Asian diasporic artists in Los Angeles and beyond".

Durjoy Rahman, founder of DBF: “We are delighted to be partnering with the V&A and LACMA at what we see as a critical moment in both museums’ histories - a moment of conscious commitment to a re-presentation and reinterpretation of South Asian Collections reflective of current times, as well as to the responsibility of more complete collections, inclusive of modern and contemporary works. This is aligned with the DBF’s mission to support and promote art from Bangladesh and the wider South Asia region in a critical, international context”.