Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Some museums you visit. Others, you dream.
In this episode of This Being Human, host Mai Habib sits down with artist and filmmaker Ohida Khandakar to discuss her award-winning film Dream Your Museum. Ohida reflects on how her Uncle Selim Khandakar’s collection of over 12,000 ordinary—yet utterly extraordinary—objects, acquired over 50 years, became a living museum through imagination and storytelling.
From a mud house to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dream Your Museum rethinks exhibition spaces, emphasizing dynamic engagement with culture and everyday life as their defining attributes.
Follow along as Ohida shares her experience navigating the arts as a Muslim Indian woman, the process of curating and documenting a museum that comes to life, and why you should dream about the impossible. She also offers up the essentials to dream your own museum: inspiration, creation, and human connection.
*The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.*
*Guest Bio:*
Ohida Khandakar is a visual artist and filmmaker based in the Netherlands. Her practice explores themes of memory, rural marginalized voices, non-linear narratives, and gender inequality through various mediums including lens-based media, drawing, painting, and installation art.
She obtained a BFA in Painting from the Government College of Art & Craft in Kolkata, along with an MFA in Painting from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. Her work has been internationally exhibited and received several awards. Most notably, she is the 7th recipient of the Jameel Prize (2024) for her film Dream Your Museum, which was also showcased at the 12th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2022), the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia (2022), and the Emami Art Experimental Film Festival in Kolkata (2022).
*Links & Resources:*
This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the Museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
Visit Ohida Khandakar’s portfolio to see her gallery and more of her artistic background:
ohidakhandakar.com
For more information on Dream Your Museum’s 2025 exhibition at the V&A, check out Jameel Prize: Moving Images: vam.ac.uk/articles/jameel-prize-moving-images
Read more about Jameel Prize winner Khandakar Ohida: ‘Personal stories open universal memories’: arabnews.com/node/2624122/lifestyle
*Key Moments*
0:00 Introduction to This Being Human and Ohida Khandakar’s short film Dream Your Museum
1:18 Ohida Khandakar’s background in the arts and artistic interests
1:54 Pursuing a career in visual art as a Muslim Indian woman
5:59 From mud house to the moon: Dream Your Museum’s inspiration and creation
13:00 Curating and caring for the traveling museum
15:46 Collecting curiosities: how decades of artistic ritual became a museum
19:59 Sharing the subtle joys of simple objects
22:08 Living objects: the restorative power of imagination
23:40 Redefining museum spaces: dreaming, creating, and transforming our surroundings
26:40 Closing remarks on Dream Your Museum
Some museums you visit. Others, you dream.
In this episode of This Being Human, host Mai Habib sits down with artist and filmmaker Ohida Khandakar to discuss her award-winning film Dream Your Museum. Ohida reflects on how her Uncle Selim Khandakar’s collection of over 12,000 ordinary—yet utterly extraordinary—objects, acquired over 50 years, became a living museum through imagination and storytelling.
From a mud house to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dream Your Museum rethinks exhibition spaces, emphasizing dynamic engagement with culture and everyday life as their defining attributes.
Follow along as Ohida shares her experience navigating the arts as a Muslim Indian woman, the process of curating and documenting a museum that comes to life, and why you should dream about the impossible. She also offers up the essentials to dream your own museum: inspiration, creation, and human connection.
*The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.*
*Guest Bio:*
Ohida Khandakar is a visual artist and filmmaker based in the Netherlands. Her practice explores themes of memory, rural marginalized voices, non-linear narratives, and gender inequality through various mediums including lens-based media, drawing, painting, and installation art.
She obtained a BFA in Painting from the Government College of Art & Craft in Kolkata, along with an MFA in Painting from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. Her work has been internationally exhibited and received several awards. Most notably, she is the 7th recipient of the Jameel Prize (2024) for her film Dream Your Museum, which was also showcased at the 12th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2022), the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia (2022), and the Emami Art Experimental Film Festival in Kolkata (2022).
*Links & Resources:*
This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the Museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
Visit Ohida Khandakar’s portfolio to see her gallery and more of her artistic background:
ohidakhandakar.com
For more information on Dream Your Museum’s 2025 exhibition at the V&A, check out Jameel Prize: Moving Images: vam.ac.uk/articles/jameel-prize-moving-images
Read more about Jameel Prize winner Khandakar Ohida: ‘Personal stories open universal memories’: arabnews.com/node/2624122/lifestyle
*Key Moments*
0:00 Introduction to This Being Human and Ohida Khandakar’s short film Dream Your Museum
1:18 Ohida Khandakar’s background in the arts and artistic interests
1:54 Pursuing a career in visual art as a Muslim Indian woman
5:59 From mud house to the moon: Dream Your Museum’s inspiration and creation
13:00 Curating and caring for the traveling museum
15:46 Collecting curiosities: how decades of artistic ritual became a museum
19:59 Sharing the subtle joys of simple objects
22:08 Living objects: the restorative power of imagination
23:40 Redefining museum spaces: dreaming, creating, and transforming our surroundings
26:40 Closing remarks on Dream Your Museum
