Home/Σπίτι(Spiti)/বাড়ি(Bari)
a feminist performance by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with the people of Athens, planned in consultation with local artists, refugees, and other residents of Athens.

What is home and how do we find new homes and rebuild our lives? How do climate change and conflict affect our homes?  How do we take care of Planet Earth, our home?  

The performance begins in the sari “dwelling” with singing in Bengali and Greek (songs about storms and the sea). We write personal reflections on “home” on the glass windows in multiple languages.  We lift a sari up to make a roof and six women (and more join in) walk around with the sari roof over our heads.  We sew together saris that contain the stories and writing of people in Athens, Paris, Bangladesh, and the US.  I pour salt over a plate of rice, referencing the impact of climate change on agriculture by incursion of salt water into the soil, water, and crops in coastal areas. I ladle water from one vessel to another to suggest sea level rise.  I light a candle to symbolize the overheating of our planet and the fires that rage across our globe.  We walk in a procession and carry the long sari banner  outside the gallery as Bangladeshi immigrants sing a song about marching alone if no one joins you (Ekla Cholo Re) .  As we walk outside to the streets, we pass graffiti, cars, a church, and, in a poignant moment, we encircle a homeless couple sitting in a makeshift home.  

July 18 at 7- 9 pm.

Performance coordinator and curator: Angeliki Grammatikopoulou

Performance participants: Evi Athanasiou (voice), Sani Paraskevopoulou, Meredith Weil, Jini Mohanty, Alexandre Zafar Khan, Niki Zahari, Noorjahan Begum Shiuli (voice), Gisele Mukanda, Md. Abdur Razzak, Sheha, Nadia, Erasmia Psimenou, Archontia Carla, and many more.

Translation (Arabic):  Dhafer Hamdi.

Photo credit:  Angeliki Grammatikopoulou, Sasha, and Monica Jahan Bose.

Supported by the Athens Mayor’s office, the City of Athens Accommodation and Services Scheme for Asylum Seekers, and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment on the Arts.