Floating/Drowning Part 2 @ Superfine! The Fairest Fair, 56 NE 29th Street, Miami, FL, Saturday, December 3, 2016, 4 to 6 pm
by Monica Jahan Bose with One Billion Rising Miami and others.

The performance took place in the astroturf garden and then continued onto the street, with a group of women walking to Biscayne Bay and back to the fair.

Performance assistants: Farhana Akhter, Leah Stoddard, Juanita-Marie Franklin (vocals), Marya Meyer, Sharon London,  Diane Adkins, Alicia Gerrits Hawkins, Florence Hawkins, Lala Cohen, Chloe Namias and more.

The performance engaged approximately 20 women, some from Miami, and others visiting from around the country in a women’s performance art action on climate change. The performance included songs about water in Bengali (Monica) and English (Juanita) and promises to reduce our carbon footprint. A sari was covered with written climate pledges and then it was stitched together with other saris, some printed in Bangladesh and others with pledges by Americans. Monica wrote out with turmeric a pledge to reduce the use of fossil fuels, immersed the writing in water, and drank the turmeric infused water. She offered all participants a drink of the water. The action references a Muslim ritual of hope. Turmeric also signifies renewal and cleansing in Bengali culture. All the women then carried the over 140-foot-long long sari into the street, along with coconuts, signifying climate resilience. We walked for almost 15 minutes in the gusting wind to Biscayne Bay and then released our coconuts into the water, to float away. Returning to the fair, we formed into a cocoon, wrapped in a sari embrace.

Photo credit: Ben Droz.
Copyright, 2016, Monica Jahan Bose, all rights reserved.