Events
Monica Jahan Bose will be leading a series of empowerment workshops with women at a shelter in Anacostia. The women are learning about climate change and making a collaborative sari with woodblock, writing, and painting. The workshops will culminate in public performance on the banks of the Anacostia River on September 1, 2017. Stay tuned for details.
This project is funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Photo: Jaclyn Merica.
Change Is Coming, a performance art action by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with the women of Calvary Women’s Services.
The performance will begin inside the Calvary garden at 4 pm.
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The public portion will commence at 4:30 pm on the street outside 1217 Good Hope Road, SE and continue to the Anacostia River.
The performance “Change is Coming” is the culmination of a series of climate art workshops held at Calvary Women’s Services, a transitional program for homeless women in Anacostia, Washington DC. Calvary provides housing, education, and support for homeless women, some of whom are escaping from domestic violence. In 2015, during the exhibition/workshops “Climate and Actions” at Anacostia Arts Center, a woman called Amanda joined a climate art workshop and was so excited by it that she brought 25 women from her shelter to join a special workshop organized just for Calvary women. During 2016-2017, Monica Jahan Bose has been working with women in this shelter, leading on-site collaborative workshops that include sharing stories and knowledge about climate change and creating saris with climate pledges from women in Anacostia to women in Katakhali Village, Barobaishida Island, Bangladesh.The saris will be used the performance and later returned to Bangladesh to be worn by women in Katakhali Village.
The performance script is being determined in collaboration with the women of Calvary, and will include singing, sewing in a vegetable garden tended by the women, and walking to the Anacostia River. The performance takes inspiration from the Sam Cooke song, “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Our walk to the river will echo the women of Katakhali walking to the Darchira River during their performance in January 2016. The workshops and performance are supported by a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Climate pledge on one of the Calvary saris, June 2017.
Darchira River Performance, Bangladesh, January 2016.
Copyright 2016-2017, Monica Jahan Bose, all rights reserved.
Projection, discussion, et dédicace au Librairie du Cinéma du Panthéon | Paris | Île-de-France | France [English text below]
Les artistes et cinéastes Monica Jahan Bose et Leena Jayaswal seront present pour la projection de deux courts métrages, suivi d’une discussion avec les auteures et une séance de dédicace du livre Her Words: Storytelling with Saris.
OU: Librairie du Cinéma du Panthéon
15, rue Victor Cousin – 75005 Paris.
COMMENT:
Metro: Cluny-La Sorbonne / RER : Luxembourg / BUS 38, 96, 21: arrêts Luxembourg, Saint Jacques-Gay Lussac
QUAND: Samedi, 14 octobre de 17H à 19H
Bose et Jayaswal coréalisent un film sur le changement climatique vu au prisme du projet artistique Storytelling with Saris, une évocation de récits de femmes de l’île de Barobaishdia au Bangladesh, destinée à inciter américains et européens à agir individuellement et collectivement sur le climat. Depuis le retrait du gouvernement américain de l’Accord de Paris sur le climat, l’engagement individuel et collectif sur le sujet revêt une signification particulière. Le projet Storytelling with Saris s’appuie sur des performances et des actions artistiques pour susciter un désir collectif et individuel de s’engager dans la lutte pour la réduction des énergies fossiles. Le projet a déjà fait escale dans plusieurs localités aux Etats-Unis (Hawaï, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvanie, Virginie, Washington, Wisconsin) et au Bangladesh (Dhaka et le village de Katakhali), et elle investira la galerie Six Elzevir à Paris, dans le Marais, à compter du 16 octobre 2017 de 12 h à 21 h.
Projection : (1) extrait du film Rising Up to Climate Change: Storytelling with Saris, realisé par Monica Jahan Bose et Leena Jayaswal. Shefali Akhter Shetu et Nandita Ahmed ont participé au tournage et montage (durée :15 minutes) (2) Jalobayu (Climate. Water. Wind), un court documentaire de Monica Jahan Bose sur une performance présentée à Miami Beach dans le cadre de l’édition 2014 d’Art Basel Miami Beach (durée : 7 minutes).
Dédicace : « Her Words: Storytelling with Saris », un livre de 110 pages en couleurs traitant du projet sera disponible (25 euros) et donnera lieu à une séance de dédicaces par Monica Jahan Bose.
Entrée libre, et on vous offrira un verre …
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Storytelling with Saris
Please join artists and filmmakers Monica Jahan Bose and Leena Jayaswal for a screening of two short films, followed by a talk and discussion, and a book signing of “Her Words: Storytelling with Saris.”
Librairie du Cinéma du Panthéon
15, rue Victor Cousin – 75005 Paris.
Metro : Cluny-La Sorbonne / RER : Luxembourg
Saturday, October 14, 2017 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Bose and Jayaswal are co-directing a film about climate change through the lens of the Storytelling with Saris art and advocacy project, which highlights the stories of women on the Island of Barobaishdia in Bangladesh to inspire Americans and Europeans to take action on climate on an individual and community level. With the U.S. federal government’s withdrawal of support for the Paris Climate Agreement, the actions of individuals and local communities become particularly relevant. The Storytelling with Saris project uses performance art actions to engage and inspire community and individual commitments to reduce use of fossil fuels. Storytelling with Saris performances, art actions, and engagements have taken place in multiple localities in the U.S. (Hawai’i, Iowa, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin) and Bangladesh (Dhaka and Katakhali Village), and upcoming on October 16, 2017 @ 6:30 pm in Paris, France at the Galerie Six Elzevir in the Marais.
Film Screening — (1) preview/excerpt from film “Rising Up to Climate Change: Storytelling with Saris” co-directed by Monica Jahan Bose and Leena Jayaswal. Film team includes Shefali Akhter Shetu and Nandita Ahmed. (15 minutes)
(2) “Jalobayu (Climate. Water. Wind.),” a short film of a recent performance during Art Basel Miami Beach by Monica Jahan Bose (7 minutes)
Book signing — “Her Words: Storytelling with Saris,” a 110-page full-color book about the Storytelling with Saris project is available for sale for Euro 25 and will be signed by Monica Jahan Bose
The event is free and will include a wine reception.
Deux degrés : storytelling with saris [English text below]
installation/ action artistique/ performance
Monica Jahan Bose en collaboration avec Anju Chaudhuri
Lundi 16 octobre 2017, Galerie Six Elzévir, 6 rue Elzévir, Paris 3.
Installation et action artistique : de 12 h à 18 h.
Performance interactive et réception: de 18 h à 21 h.
Les artistes Bose et Chaudhuri, l’une installée à Washington et l’autre à Paris, créeront ensemble une installation ayant trait à un enjeu central de notre temps s’il en est : le changement climatique. Le dispositif intégrera la gravure sur saris et l’impression à la planche, ainsi que la vidéo. Alors qu’elle vivait à Paris, Bose s’est formée à la gravure (eau forte et aquatinte) auprès de Chaudhuri. Les femmes de son village ancestral au Bangladesh lui ont par la suite enseigné les techniques d’impression de tissus à la planche. Les Parisiens de tous âges (et visiteurs de passage) sont invités à participer à l’installation et à créer une œuvre en réponse au changement climatique, en signe de solidarité avec le reste du monde. L’objectif est d’inscrire sur des saris ou sur papier des vœux de réduction des émissions de CO2 tout en se familiarisant aux techniques de la gravure et de l’impression à la planche. Au cours de la journée, nous créerons un sari de six mètres recouvert de vœux et d’images, destiné à être portée par une femme de l’île de Barobaishdia, village ancestral de Bose, particulièrement exposé aux effets du changement climatique.
« Deux Degrés » se réfère au seuil de réchauffement à ne pas dépasser, par rapport aux niveaux préindustriels, si on voulait éviter les effets catastrophiques du changement climatique. 195 pays se sont accordés sur cet objectif dans le cadre de l’accord de Paris sur le climat de 2015. Celui-ci prévoit de contenir le réchauffement en dessous de 2 degrés, tout en poursuivant les efforts pour limiter la hausse des températures à 1,5 degrés, niveau pour lequel les pays insulaires ou proches du niveau de la mer comme le Bangladesh se sont violemment battus. Le climat s’est déjà pratiquement réchauffé d’un degré. Et la Maison Blanche a dénoncé l’accord. L’action individuelle et locale est donc plus que jamais nécessaire.
Certains saris de l’installation ont été imprimés et peints en collaboration avec des femmes du village ancestral de Bose, Kathakali, situé sur l’île de Barobaishdia au Bangladesh. Ces villageoises ont depuis peu appris à lire et sont confrontées au changement climatique, un phénomène qu’elles découvrent et auquel elles cherchent à s’adapter. L’île, fréquemment touchée par de violents orages et des cyclones, pourrait passer sous le niveau de la mer en cas de status quo. « Deux Degrés » propose un accord alternatif, transfrontalier et interindividuel, de Paris à Washington, en passant par l’île de Barobaishdia.
La performance débutera dans la galerie aux alentours de 18 h 30 et se poursuivra dans la rue. Venez nombreux.
« Deux Degrés » a été rendu possible grâce à la bourse « Sister Cities Grant » de la Commission on the Arts and Humanities, en partie financée par le National endowment for the arts. La bourse a pour objectif des tisser des liens entre Paris et Washington par le biais de l’art.
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Deux Degrés: Storytelling with Saris
installation/art action/performance
Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with Anju Chaudhuri
Installation and art action: 12 noon to 6 pm.
Interactive performance and reception: 6 pm to 9 pm.
Bose, an artist based in Washington, D.C., and Chaudhuri, an artist based in Paris, will together create an installation using saris, paper, printmaking, and video, that speaks to climate change, one of the greatest challenges of our time. While she was living in Paris, Bose learned printmaking (etching and aquatint) from Chaudhuri. Bose later learned woodblock fabric printing from the women of her ancestral village in Bangladesh. Paris residents (and visitors to Paris) of all ages are invited to become part of the installation and create artwork in response to climate change, in solidarity with people across the globe, making specific carbon reduction pledges on saris and on paper, and learning woodblock and other printmaking techniques. During the course of the day, we will together create a six-meter sari covered with climate pledges and images. The sari will ultimately be returned to Bangladesh to be worn as a garment by a woman from Barobaishdia Island, Bose’s ancestral village which is on the frontlines of climate change.
“Deux Degrés” refers to the maximum increase allowable from preindustrial global temperatures to avoid catastrophic effects of climate change. This was adopted as the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement by 195 nations in December 2015. The agreement limits the temperature increase to no more than 2 degrees, but aspires to keep the increase within 1.5 degrees. Island and low-lying countries like Bangladesh vehemently pushed for 1.5 degrees. We have already increased the world’s temperature by almost one degree, and the U.S. federal government has recently disavowed the agreement, making individual and local action on climate even more critical.
Some of the saris in the installation were printed and painted in collaboration with women from Bose’s ancestral village on Barobaishdia Island, Bangladesh as part of the project Storytelling with saris. These women have recently learned to read and are confronting, learning about, and adapting to climate change.The island faces frequent brutal storms and cyclones and may become submerged by sea level rise unless the world takes action.”Deux Degrés” creates an alternative cross-border people-to-people climate agreement, from Paris to Washington, D.C. to Barobaishdia Island.
The performance will commence at approximately 6:30 pm and will move from the art gallery out into the street. All are invited to join.
Deux Degrés is made possible through a “Sister Cities Grant” grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant seeks to build relationships between Washington, D.C. and Paris, through the arts.
Photo credit (above): Mir Masus-Elias.
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Biographies des artistes/Artist Biographies
Monica Jahan Bose: Née en Angleterre du parents bengalis, citoyenne du Bangladesh et des États-Unis, Monica Jahan Bose est une artiste, avocate et activiste. Les moyens d’expression utilisés dans son oeuvre sont nombreux: peinture, film, photo, gravure et son approche est pluridisciplinaire. Dans cet esprit, elle tente de marier l’art et la politique. Elle a eu des expositions ou a fait des installations au Brooklyn Museum, Art Asia Miami, le Twelve Gates Gallery, la Musée nationale du Bangladesh, the DUMBO Arts Festival, (e)merge art fair, SELECT Art Fair Miami, Smithsonian Asia Pacific American Center, entre autres. Actuellement, Bose vit et travaille entre Washington, D.C. et le Bangladesh. Elle a fait ses études à l’Université de Wesleyan (USA) ainsi qu’au centre artistique renommé du Santiniketan (Inde) et a reçu son diplôme en droit à l’Université de Columbia (USA). Elle a vécu à Paris de 2006–2010 et, pendant cette période, a fait des expositions personelles à la Galerie Deborah Zafman ainsi qu’à l’UNESCO, et elle fut sélectionnée pour l’exposition du Prix Marin en 2010. L’oeuvre de Bose a été reconnu par de nombreuses entités. Elle a reçu quatre bourses de la part de la DC Commission on the arts and humanities (par le biais du U.S. National endowment for the arts) et elle a crée une performance pour la Nuit blanche DC (2015). Elle est la créatrice de Storytelling with saris, un projet artistique collaboratif mené avec son village ancestral de Kathakali au Bangladesh, mariant ensemble son histoire avec l’art contemporain pour attirer l’attention sur le fait que son héritage et son village est en danger de se noyer sous l’Océan Indien.
Anju Chaudhuri: Née à Calcutta (Inde) d’une famille d’intellectuels bengalis attachés à la tradition, Anju Chaudhuri vit et travaille a Paris. En Inde elle s’est nourrie des histoires de la mythologie hindoue qui baigne sa vie quotidienne, et par ses nombreux voyages entre mer et montagne. Après son diplôme de peinture à Calcutta, elle part très jeune étudier à la St-Martin School of Art à Londres, puis aux Beaux Arts à Paris et ensuite à Amsterdam. Maître de la gravure, Anju Chauduri a appris cet art aux côtés de Stanley William Hayter (Alelier 17, à Paris). Elle est connue pour ses peintures, gravures, aquarelles, dessins, et papiers.
De ses nombreuses rencontres, elle a gardé le goût des amitiés profondes, des rencontres dans tous pays et continue – depuis Paris où elle a choisi de s’installer – à aller de Berlin à Amsterdam rencontrer des peintres, ses pairs, trouver des médiums, vivre en un mot « en Peinture ».
Elle puise son inspiration dans la Nature et dans les 5 éléments : air, feu, eau, terre, éther. Au cours des dernières années, elle a commencé à se préoccuper du dérèglement de la nature par l’homme et a commence à créer des oeuvres autour du sujet du réchauffement planétaire. Primée de nombreuses fois, elle a fait maintes expositions, en France ainsi qu’à l’étranger. Ses oeuvres se trouvent dans les collections de nombre de musées dans le monde, comme Asia Society (NY), Ville de Paris, Bronx Museum (NY), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), et National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi).
Monica Jahan Bose: Born in Britain, Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist, lawyer, and activist whose work spans performance, painting, film, photography, printmaking, and interdisciplinary projects. Her solo projects and performance/installations have been presented at the Brooklyn Museum, Art Asia Miami, Twelve Gates Gallery, the Bangladesh National Museum, the DUMBO Arts Festival, (e)merge art fair, SELECT Art Fair Miami, the Smithsonian Asia Pacific American Center, and many other venues. Bose currently lives and works in Washington, D.C. and Bangladesh. She studied art at Wesleyan University (USA) and Santiniketan (India) and has a law degree from Columbia University (USA). She lived in Paris from 2006-2010 and had solo and duo exhibitions at Galerie Deborah Zafman and UNESCO and was selected for the 2010 Prix Marin Exhibition. Bose has received numerous commissions and awards, including four grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (through the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts) and a 2015 commissioned performance for Nuit Blanche DC.
She is the creator of STORYTELLING WITH SARIS, a longterm collaborative art and advocacy project with her ancestral village of Katakhali, Bangladesh. In December 2015, Bose partnered with the International Centre on Climate and Development to create a climate awareness workshop in Katakhali, Bangladesh. As an artist originating from Katakhali, Bose brings her history into contemporary art, translating these experiences into immersive site-based work. Her heritage and community may drown under the Indian Ocean.
Born in Calcutta, India to a family of Bengali intellectuals enamored of tradition, Anju Chaudhuri lives and works in Paris. She grew up in India, nurtured by the Hindu mythology that permeates daily life, and her many journeys between the sea and the mountains. After receiving a diploma in painting in Calcutta, she left at age 18 to study at St Martin’s School of Art in London, then continued at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and then in Amsterdam. Chauduri became a master printmaker, learning this art by working side by side with Stanley William Hayter (Atelier 17, Paris). She is renowned internationally for her paintings, prints, drawings, watercolors, and hand-made paper.
She takes her main inspiration from nature and the five elements: air, fire, water, earth, and aether. She has felt increasingly alarmed by the disruption of nature by man and has begun creating works responding to climate change. She has exhibited extensively in France and internationally and received numerous awards and commissions. Her works can be found in the collections of several museums throughout the world, including Ville de Paris, Asia Society (NY), Bronx Museum (NY), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), and National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi).
The Window invite l’artiste et activiste Monica Jahan Bose à faire une action artistique autour du changement climatique et son impact sur l’agriculture de l’Asie du Sud. L’action se terminera par un repas collectif.
Née en Angleterre du parents bengalis, citoyenne du Bangladesh et des États-Unis, Monica Jahan Bose est une artiste, avocate et activiste. Les moyens d’expression utilisés dans son oeuvre sont nombreux: peinture, film, photo, gravure, performance, et son approche est pluridisciplinaire. Dans cet esprit, elle tente de marier l’art et la politique. Elle a eu des expositions ou a fait des installations au Brooklyn Museum, Art Asia Miami, le Twelve Gates Gallery, la Musée nationale du Bangladesh, the DUMBO Arts Festival, (e)merge art fair, SELECT Art Fair Miami, Smithsonian Asia Pacific American Center, entre autres. Actuellement, Bose vit et travaille entre Washington, D.C. et le Bangladesh. Elle a fait ses études à l’Université de Wesleyan (USA) ainsi qu’au centre artistique renommé du Santiniketan (Inde) et a reçu son diplôme en droit à l’Université de Columbia (USA). Elle a vécu à Paris de 2006–2010 et, pendant cette période, a fait des expositions personelles à la Galerie Deborah Zafman ainsi qu’à l’UNESCO, et elle fut sélectionnée pour l’exposition du Prix Marin en 2010. L’oeuvre de Bose a été reconnu par de nombreuses entités. Elle a reçu quatre bourses de la part de la DC Commission on the arts and humanities (par le biais du U.S. National endowment for the arts) et elle a crée une performance pour la Nuit blanche DC (2015). Elle est la créatrice de Storytelling with Saris, un projet artistique collaboratif mené avec son village ancestral de Kathakali au Bangladesh, mariant ensemble son histoire avec l’art contemporain pour attirer l’attention sur le fait que son héritage et son village est en danger de se noyer sous l’Océan Indien.
I finally unpacked my suitcases from Paris and went through the amazing images and video taken by Leena Jayaswal! I would love to share with you the wonderful experience there, which included making collaborative art with master printmaker Anju Chaudhuri as well as two installations/performances, an exhibition, a talk/book signing, and street interventions. Next month, I am off to Bangladesh to continue my work on climate change with the people of Katakhali Village on Barobaishdia Island. The community there has suffered a lot of damage from recent torrential rains. What a year we’ve had of climate disaster after disaster around the world…. But we must be resilient and work in solidarity to address this urgent problem.
Please join me on December 2, 2017 from 5 to 7:30 pm for a holiday party and salon showcasing Deux Degres, a Paris Sister Cities project funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which is supported in part by the NEA. I will share photos and video and the gorgeous collaborative works made with Anju Chaudhuri, which are for sale. Other artwork is available (many at bargain prices) to raise money for the Storytelling with Saris climate advocacy project. I need to raise $10,000 to fund the next phase of the project, which includes a climate adaptation and advocacy workshop in Bangladesh, as well as filming and editing of the Rising Up to Climate Change film, which looks at climate change from the voices of ordinary people in Bangladesh and the US.
– Monica
Image: Disruption, Monica Jahan Bose and Anju Chaudhuri, woodblock and watercolor, copyright 2017.
Women in Leadership is pleased to invite you to a sample film screening and the launch of a fundraising drive for the future film Rising Up to Climate Change: Storytelling with Saris. The film looks at the impact of climate change on women from Katakhali Village on the island of Barobaishdia in Patuakhali District through the lens of the Storytelling with Saris climate art advocacy project. It also follows the stories of Americans and Europeans who are making climate pledges on saris to reduce their carbon footprint. Unless the world takes immediate action, Bangladesh could lose 20% of its land, displacing 30 million people. Women disproportionately suffer the impacts of climate change because of cultural norms and the inequitable distribution of resources and power, especially in developing countries. Women’s leadership is also critical to addressing climate.
The all-woman film team includes Monica Jahan Bose, Leena Jayaswal, Nandita Ahmed, Shefali Akhter Shetu, and Executive Producer Preema Nazia Andaleeb, as well as the women of the Katakhali Cooperative.
Bangladeshi-American artist Monica Jahan Bose and Dhaka-based cinematographer Shefali Akhter Shetu are going back to Katakhali Village, Barobaishdia Island, Bangladesh on December 31 for eight days of advocacy, training, art, and photography and filming. We are purchasing several small cameras and training a number of women to self-document with film their lives and climate events such as extreme storms, cyclones, untimely rains, drought, and resulting damage and effects. We will be doing climate advocacy writing workshops with the women of the Katakhali Cooperative so that they can write to their local and central government representatives to seek help in adapting to climate change, such as affordable access to salt-resistant varieties of rice, and maintenance and repairs of the cyclone shelter and the levy (to reduce storm surge). There will also be climate knowledge sharing and resilience workshops to assess whether climate adaptive farming techniques are working, and to test the drinking water supply for salt, a common public health problem in coastal areas. All of this will be documented in film to tell the story of Bangladesh’s brave fight against climate change. The goal is to empower individuals and communities around the world to take action to save our planet from climate change.
Please join us for a screening of a 15 minute sample of the film followed by discussion. We are looking for partners to finish this important project highlighting women’s stories and their leadership in addressing climate change. Thank you so much for your support and time.
For confirming your participation, please fill up this form – https://goo.gl/forms/SgGA21aWwMhj94xY2
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The event will be hosted by Women in Leadership and its President, Preema Nazia Andaleeb. Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Andaleeb is one of Bangladesh’s most recognized contemporary artists. She works in painting, video, and performance and has exhibited widely in Bangladesh and internationally. She is the Director and Creative Editor of Bangladesh Brand Forum. She is the President of Women in Leadership, which seeks to inspire women’s leadership in the business and creative sectors of Bangladesh. In 2014, she received the prestigious Ananya Award for outstanding woman artist in Bangladesh. She is an Executive Producer of the Rising Up to Climate Change film.
Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist, lawyer, and activist whose work spans performance, painting, film, photography, printmaking, and interdisciplinary projects. As an artist originating from Katakhali, Bangladesh, Monica brings her history into contemporary art, translating these experiences into immersive work. She is the creator of STORYTELLING WITH SARIS, a long-term collaborative art and advocacy project, which has been featured around the world, including recent exhibitions and art actions in Paris, Hawaii, and Washington DC. In 2015, Bose partnered with the International Centre on Climate Change and Development to create a climate awareness workshop in Katakhali, Bangladesh. Alongside her art practice, she practiced and taught environmental and human rights law for many years. Monica has received numerous commissions and awards for her interdisciplinary art work.
For more information and bios of the full team see http://storytellingwithsaris.com/bios/
We will be in Bangladesh working on the RISING UP TO CLIMATE CHANGE: STORYTELLING WITH SARIS film and doing more arts advocacy work with the coastal women of Bangladesh in Katakhali Village, Patuakhali District.
Photo exhibition and film screening: December 31, 2017
Photo self-documentation workshop: January 2, 4, and 5, 2018
Performance: January 6, 2018
Please join us at DIRECTED ACTIONS on Friday, January 19 @ 7:30 pm at the Logan Fringe Arts Space, Trinidad Theatre, 1358 Florida Ave, NE, Washington DC 20002. Monica Jahan Bose will be in conversation with two exceptional artists/activists, Robin Bell and Holly Bass. Robin will be doing some cool projections and there will be live music by Ted Zook. Tickets are $10. Robin Bell has been doing amazing work projecting on buildings since the elections — check out this link to his brilliant projections on the EPA.
The EMK Center is pleased to invite you to a fundraiser and screening for the future film Rising Up to Climate Change: Storytelling with Saris. The film looks at the impact of climate change on women from Katakhali Village on the island of Barobaishdia in Patuakhali District through the lens of the Storytelling with Saris climate art advocacy project. It also follows the stories of Americans and Europeans who are making climate pledges on saris to reduce their carbon footprint. Unless the world takes immediate action, Bangladesh could lose 20% of its land, displacing 30 million people. Women disproportionately suffer the impacts of climate change because of cultural norms and the inequitable distribution of resources and power, especially in developing countries. Women’s leadership is also critical to addressing climate.
The all-woman film team includes Monica Jahan Bose, Leena Jayaswal, Nandita Ahmed, Shefali Akter Shetu, Dawne Langford, and Executive Producer Preema Nazia Andaleeb, as well as the women of the Katakhali Cooperative.
Bangladeshi-American artist Monica Jahan Bose has been working on the film since 2013, and Dhaka-based cinematographer Shefali Akhter Shetu joined the team in 2015. The women in the Katakhali community are also being provided several small cameras and training to self-document with film their lives and climate events such as extreme storms, cyclones, untimely rains, drought, and resulting damage and effects. The goal of the film is to empower individuals and communities around the world to take action to save Bangladesh and our entire planet from climate change.
Please join us for a screening of a 15 minute sample of the film followed by discussion. We are looking for partners to finish this important project highlighting women’s stories and their leadership in addressing climate change. Shefali Akhter Shetu will be present in person along with writer and activist Noorjahan Bose, Monica’s mother. Monica will join via Skype.
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Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist, lawyer, and activist whose work spans performance, painting, film, photography, printmaking, and interdisciplinary projects. As an artist originating from Katakhali, Bangladesh, Monica brings her history into contemporary art, translating these experiences into immersive work. She is the creator of STORYTELLING WITH SARIS, a long-term collaborative art and advocacy project, which has been featured around the world, including recent exhibitions and art actions in Paris, Hawaii, and Washington DC. In 2015, Bose partnered with the International Centre on Climate Change and Development to create a climate awareness workshop in Katakhali, Bangladesh. Alongside her art practice, she practiced and taught environmental and human rights law for many years. Monica has received numerous commissions and awards for her interdisciplinary art work.
Shefali Akter Shetu founded and manages Aperture, Ltd. in the roles of Managing Director, Photographer and Documentary Filmmaker. Since 1999, she has edited video and photography for Drik, SARPV, Panos Bangladesh, and World View International Foundation. In 2005, Shetu was given the Meena Media Award for the best documentary from UNICEF. She was also nominated for the best children’s film at Oberhausen Film Festival in 2004 for “One Lokman”, a documentary about a child street singer. In 2007-2008, she worked in India for DrikIndia through a professional skill sharing exchange program by Fredkorpset. Born in Comilla, Bangladesh, she now lives and works in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In December 2015, she joined the Storytelling with Saris team as cinematographer and editor.
For more information and bios of the full team see http://storytellingwithsaris.com/bios/
