“Take Me to the Water” by Monica Jahan Bose. Curat ed by Beth Ferraro.
\nLocation: Gallery Y\, 1325 W St NW\, Washington\, DC 20009
\nOpening Reception: Fri day\, May 2\, 2025 from 6-8 pm
\nArtist’s Ta lk and Workshop: Saturday\, June 21\, 2025 from 3-5 pm
\n< strong>Closing Gathering: Thursday\, July 10\, 2025 from 5-7 pm< /p>\n
Exhibition Dates: May 2-Ju ly 11\, 2025. Gallery hours: Monday to Friday 7 am – 9 pm\, Saturdays & S undays 7 am – 7 pm.
\nCurator Statement:
\nTake Me to the Water is an invitation
to listen to the stories Monica Jahan Bose has collected from Katakhali Vi
llage and Washington\, DC that impact us all. This exhibit speaks to our d
eep connection to water\, the need to protect it\, and reminds us of our m
emories with water.
Bose’s saris and kanthas invoke a floating monument of community action and resilience. She brings together art\, activism\, and community engage ment with each embroidered kantha\, sari\, poem\, song\, performance\, and work on paper. This immersive experience blends together all these creati ve practices and highlights her commitment to her long-time collaborative project\, Storytelling with Saris\, which she began in 2012.
\n< p class='p5'>As a curator\, I am drawn to h ow Monica Jahan Bose’s work is rooted in storytelling and the technique wi th which she engages traditional forms. As a water person\, I feel a deep resonance with her incorporation of water as both subject and medium — its symbolism\, its urgency\, and its connective power across cultures and bo dies.\nArtist stateme nt:
\nMy work draws o n my family’s roots in Katakhali Village\, Barobaishdhia Island\, which is surrounded by multiple rivers and the Bay of Bengal. After moving to the Washington area\, I spent my youth with my friends exploring and playing at the C&O Canal\, Great Falls\, the Potomac River\, and neighborhood pool s. I discovered the Talking Heads in the late 1970’s in middle school\, an d listened to “Take Me to the River” all the time. Water is a recurring t heme in my work\, speaking to the essentiality of water to life\, its heal ing properties\, its centrality in climate change\, and its ability to des troy our homes\, crops\, and heritage.
\n“Take Me to the Water” presents a new body of work in keeping w ith my continuing practice. I created a series of canvas paintings called “Water\,” starting in 2006. My ongoing socially engaged project Storytel ling with Saris works (started in 2012) involves working in collaboration with women from my ancestral island along with residents of DC to create s aris\, climate pledges\, poems\, performances\, and installations that spe ak to the intersection of climate\, gender\, and racial justice. I use the precolonial sari as a symbol of sustainability and renewal. Blue saris re present water\, pools\, and rivers.
\nIn this exhibition\, I have created new work using painting\, embr oidery\, woodblock\, and collage\, reusing saris from the Storytelling wit h Saris project\, including a faded sari from the pool-shaped installation at the “Swimming”public art project (2024\, Marie Reed Plaza and Aquatic Center). The saris from my ongoing work have been used in multiple install ations and performances\, and worn by Katakhali women. Several used saris were cut\, layered in three\, and embroidered by me and the Katakhali wome n to create “kanthas\,” a traditional art form where Bangladeshi women rec ycle old saris to create blankets and wraps. Woodblocks that I have design ed have been repeated on the saris\, the works on paper\, and the kanthas. The exhibition also includes a new performance film “Rising Up.”< /p>\n
“Take Me to the Water” speaks to ou r deep connection to water\, and the need to protect our waters and our pl anet.
\nArtist Bio
\nMonica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist whose work spans painting\, printmaking\, film\, performance\, a nd installation. Her socially engaged work highlights the intersection of climate\, racial\, gender\, and economic injustice through co-created work shops\, art actions\, and temporary installations and performances. She ha s exhibited her work extensively in the US and internationally (24 solo sh ows\, five large-scale public art projects\, and more than 25 performances )\, including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art\, Rome.
\nHer ongoing decade-long collaborative art and advocacy project\, STORYTELLING WITH SARIS\, with women farmers from her ancestral island village\, has traveled to eight countries and 12 US states\, engagi ng thousands of people. Her work has appeared in the Miami Herald\, the Wa shington Post\, Art Asia Pacific\, the Milwaukee Sentinel\, the Honolulu S tar Advertiser\, the Japan Times\, Prothom Al\,o and all major newspapers in Bangladesh. The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum has acquired a c ollection of her paintings\, saris\, and archival materials. Monica was an artist delegate to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai\, presenting sar i installations\, workshops\, and film screenings. She has a BA in the Pra ctice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University\, a post-graduate diploma in art from Santiniketan\, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
\nCurator B io
\nBeth Ferra ro is a social art practitioner\, curator\, photographer\, and creative fa cilitator with a focus on community impact and engagement. She has a BFA i n Photography and Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology and wo rked in journalism as a Photo Editor with several publications\, including Newsweek and Flaunt magazines. Following her time in New Yo rk City and Australia\, she was the Creative Director and Curator at Honfl eur Gallery and Vivid Solutions Gallery in Anacostia for seven years. Ferr aro has also managed residency programs\, artists’ studios\, pop-up spaces \, and placemaking projects in partnership with communities. Recently\, sh e served as a Cultural & Art Coordinator for an Artisan in Residence pilot program with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage an d the National Museum of Asian Art\, working with artisans from Armenia\, India\, the United Arab Emirates\, Mongolia\, Tibet\, Japan\, and China.
\nFerraro has worked with numerous organizations on site-specific public art initiatives\, com munity projects\, public programs\, and art installations including the Na tional Museum of Women in the Arts\, Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Bui lding\, Martha’s Table\, Department of Energy and Environment\, Culture Ho use DC\, Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC\, Southwest Business Improvement District\, Van Alen Institute\, City First Foundation\, and Wa shington Project for the Arts.
\nSince 2019\, Ferraro has been the Creative Director & Curato r at Gallery Y at the YMCA Anthony Bowen. Ferraro has lived in the Distric t of Columbia since 2004. She is also a yoga teacher for seniors\, a swimm er\, a paddleboarder\, a novice gardener\, and an avid bicyclist.\n
This project is supp orted in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
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