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SWIMMING, a public art project

When:
June 7, 2024 @ 5:00 PM – June 21, 2024 @ 8:00 AM
2024-06-07T17:00:00-04:00
2024-06-21T08:00:00-04:00
Where:
Marie Reed Plaza
2201 18th St NW
Washington
DC 20009
Cost:
Free
Contact:
Monica Jahan Bose
SWIMMING, a public art project @ Marie Reed Plaza

SWIMMING, a temporary public art project by Monica Jahan Bose, explores the deep and essential connections we have to water as our world faces increased flooding, drought, and rising sea levels due to climate change. Participants in DC and Bangladesh join workshops to co-create poetry and art inspired by the healing properties of water and swimming and by inequities in access. Featuring 22 blue Bangladeshi saris arranged to evoke a swimming pool and a massive wave, the exhibit is augmented by a VideoSoundwalk with QR codes that interweave poetry with sounds of water, nature, and music and images of Bose and participants creating, wearing, and interacting with the saris.  The project is part of the ongoing climate justice collaboration Storytelling with Saris.

Marie Reed is the former Morgan school, which was desegregated along with the Adams school, giving the name to the Adams Morgan neighborhood. The Marie Reed pool is now being used by DC to teach swimming to children from various schools, a project that aims to redress racial discrimination in access to swimming. SWIMMING is a visual representation of sustainability, inclusion, and resilience and is part of Bose’s ongoing climate justice collaboration Storytelling with Saris.

Lead Artist: Monica Jahan Bose

Curator: Sarah Tanguy

DCPS Collaboration:  Valeria Monfrini, Art Teacher, Marie Reed Elementary School

Photography/Livestream: Paris Preston

Sound design & Music:  Sonia Herrero

Marketing design/Social media: Jen Saavedra

Installation support: Timotheo Murphy and Maps Glover

Press/media inquiries: Kelly Davidson. Email: info@kellymavenmedia.com. Phone: 301-300-4011

Funded by the DC Commission on the Arts are Humanities, Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.

Community partners: The Adams Morgan Partnership BID, Marie Reed Elementary School & Aquatic Center, The DC Arts Center, Calvary Womens Services, and Moms Clean Air Force.

Exhibition Schedule [All dates weather dependent]:

Location:  Marie Reed Plaza, 2201 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

Exhibition dates June 6-20, 2024, outdoor exhibition, open 24 hours.

Friday, June 7, 2024 @ 5-8 PM: Opening Event. Dedication, poetry recital, and livestream starting at 6 pm.  [We are going with our raindate: June 7]

Saturday, June 8, 2024 @ 3-5 pm: Artist/curator walkthrough talk at site

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 @ 7:30 pm: Walkthrough tour and screening “Swimming” short film as part of Adams Morgan Movie Night (film at dusk).

Saturday, June 15, 2024 @ 5 pm: Performance

Tuesday, June 18, 2024 @ 7:30 pm: Walkthrough tour and screening short film as part of Adams Morgan Movie Night

June 20, 2022 Final Day – Monica will be there from 8-10 pm for photo shoot and dancing under the saris!

PRESS RELEASE  

BROCHURE/ESSAY  

Sari art, poetry, and fabrication Washington DC:  

Sonja Berry, Elizabeth Brandt, Sherri Gales, Lala Forbes, Rashika Johnson, Philip Mecham, Lia Totty, Hasini Shyamshundar, Isaiah Washington, Kathryn Wichmann, Julia Rosenbaum, Marjorie Thomas, Ashanee Kottage, Maria Crupi, Joel Groomes, Niquida Browne, Nyrabia, Janet Gao, Sam Schmitz, Stephanie Reese, Reese Wilkerson, Rowin Wilkerson, Paris Burton, Hakim, Liam Toohey, Leo Toohey, Elena Sholomitskaya, Anne Simmons, Emilio Ramos, Manuel Ramos, Sofia Maria Ramos, Herschel, Jenia, Estephane Gomez, Alexa Gomez, Thomas Belcher, Ava Belcher, Sarah Christie, Isaac Martin, VEnessa Acham, Sara Akbar, Kayed Akbar, Austin Ray, Ann Farley, Raine Jeff, Isabel Fowlkes, Eleshia Simms-Harris, Neko Harris, and many others.

SWIMMING Bangladesh Team:

Project assistant:  Moumita Nabila

Project support and song transcription: Sunetra

Sari artists/singers: Noor Sehera, Nasima, Shahida, Zulekha, Zakia, Parveen, Hawa, Shima, Fatema, Sarbanu, Aleya, Rekha, and many others.

Watch the Livestream of the Dedication:

About Monica Jahan Bose: Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist whose work spans painting, printmaking, film, performance, and installation. Her socially engaged work highlights the intersection of climate, racial, gender, and economic injustice through co-created workshops, art actions, and temporary installations and performances. She has exhibited her work extensively in the US and internationally (23 solo shows, five public art projecs, numerous group exhibitions, and more than 30 performances) including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her ongoing decade-long collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 12 US states, engaging thousands of people. Her work has appeared in the Miami Herald, the Washington Post, Art Asia Pacific, the Milwaukee Sentinel, the Honolulu Star Advertiser, the the Japan Times, Prothom Alo and all major newspapers in Bangladesh. The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum has acquired and group of her paintings, saris, and archival materials for its collection.  Monica has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a post-graduate diploma in art from Santiniketan, India, and a JD from Columbia Law School. 

About Sarah Tanguy: Washington, DC-based Sarah Tanguy is an independent curator and arts writer, who believes in hands-on, face-to-face collaboration with artists and the power of art to connect with the general public and our lived experience. Many of her projects have explored the intersection of art with such topics as science, food, tools, and books, inspiring new ways to engage the world around us. Recent exhibitions include At One with the Elements, Reveal: The Art of Reimagining Scientific Discovery, and Traces, in Washington, DC; and Synergy Unbound, the last of an ongoing series at the American Center for Physics, College Park, MD. From 2004-2019, Sarah was a curator for Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State, where she curated over 100 exhibitions and 12 permanent collections featuring U.S. and host country artists for U.S. diplomatic facilities overseas. The daughter of a U.S. diplomat, Tanguy holds a BA in Fine Arts from Georgetown University, and a MA in Art History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

 



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