Events
About this Event
A new module series for educators about making art and global interconnections.
What meaningful interconnections can we make with students in our classrooms, and our homes, about important topics around the world?
How can educators and artists collaborate to help our students make these interconnections?
Why is it important for students to think about how they are interconnected with the world?
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access is proud to present Making Art + Global Interconnections, a new module series for K12 educators seeking new ideas for the classroom that weave together the processes of art-making and understanding our interconnections to topics and issues around the world.
Over the course of the summer and fall of 2020, four teams of educators, Asian American and Pacific Islander artists and an art historian came together to learn more about each other’s’ lives, why they teach, why they create art or study art, what drives their practice, and what is important to them right now. Through these collaborative conversations, ideas for new art-making lessons emerged that entwine the educator’s, the artist’s, and the art historian’s practice and vision, while centering opportunities for students to reflect on their own global interconnections through art making.
We are proud to share this collaborative project–created by women educators, artists and an art historian–with you. This project received support from the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative.
On November 12, 2020 at 6:00pm EST, join one of our teams, Educator Raksha Joshi and Artist Monica Jahan Bose, as they introduce their arts lesson, “Storytelling Scroll on Identity and Community.” During this one-hour webinar, they will share their process in creating this lesson for educators, what they learned as they piloted this lesson with students, and how you can do this lesson with the students in your life. The lesson and an accompanying Smithsonian Learning Lab collection will be available to use and download on the day of the webinar.
A Zoom Meeting link will be emailed to you via Eventbrite on November 12, 2020 before our program begins.
We look forward to seeing you!
If you are an educator and have 5-10 minutes to spare, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center would love to learn more about your experience using digital resources in your teaching. Your response will help the Center develop a future educator-centered digital resource about Asian Pacific American stories: https://si.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2oCKxg5c8uV4H2t
Please join us for a Zoom poetry and art workshop for the public art project CONCRETE DREAMS. The workshop is led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover. Future workshops will be mostly on Zoom. Those who fully participate in at least two workshops will receive a small stipend if age 15 or older. If you do not have access to internet or devices to participate on Zoom, please let us know by emailing storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com.
What is CONCRETE DREAMS? It’s a temporary public art project that involves the public in Washington DC and Katakhali Village, Bangladesh. CONCRETE DREAMS is led by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with light artist Robin Bell and will drape cotton saris and project images and poetry on the facade of the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW, Washington DC. The duration of the installation will be three days in May 2021. There will also be small movable sculptures or “steles” on the sidewalk with poetry phrases written on them. The public is invited to join zoom and outdoor workshops led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover in Fall/Winter 2020 and Spring 2021 to compose poetry and art on themes of the pandemic, race, gender, and climate justice. These poems will be placed on the saris, used in projections, and in the movable sculptures. All materials will be supplied.
ASL interpretation provided. Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com if you need ASL or other language interpretation or any other accommodation.
This project is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.
Please join us for a Zoom poetry and art workshop for the public art project CONCRETE DREAMS. The workshop is led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover. Future workshops will be mostly on Zoom. Those who fully participate in at least two workshops will receive a small stipend if age 15 or older. If you do not have access to internet or devices to participate on Zoom, please let us know by emailing storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com.
What is CONCRETE DREAMS? It’s a temporary public art project that involves the public in Washington DC and Katakhali Village, Bangladesh. CONCRETE DREAMS is led by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with light artist Robin Bell and will drape cotton saris and project images and poetry on the facade of the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW, Washington DC. The duration of the installation will be three days in May 2021. There will also be small movable sculptures or “steles” on the sidewalk with poetry phrases written on them. The public is invited to join zoom and outdoor workshops led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover in Fall/Winter 2020 and Spring 2021 to compose poetry and art on themes of the pandemic, race, gender, and climate justice. These poems will be placed on the saris, used in projections, and in the movable sculptures. All materials will be supplied.
ASL interpretation provided. Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com if you need ASL or other language interpretation or any other accommodation.
This project is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.
Join us for the virtual launch and discussion of RENEW, Monica Jahan Bose’s artist book of collaborative public art and poetry about climate change. The book is over 100 pages in full color, designed by Erik Moe, and has images and poetry from the public art projects WRAPture and Warming Waters and recent installations and performances in New York, Paris, Rome, Miami Beach, and Katakhali, Bangladesh.
Presenters : Josheen Oberoi, Leah Stoddard, Purvi Shah, Monica Jahan Bose and more!
You may order signed books by emailing monicajahanbose@gmail.com and paying by venmo @monica-bose or Paypal monicajahanbose@gmail.com or CashApp $monicaartivist. The regular book is $30 (plus $5 postage within US, email to inquire about international postage). In addition, there are 50 signed and numbered limited edition pieces with a special hand-cut cover with sari insert at $50 each (plus $5 postage in US). Thank you so much for supporting this climate justice project. More details here.
Presenter bios:
Josheen Oberoi is a gallerist and curator based out of New York. She is currently VP and Director at DAG, an international gallery focused on South Asian modern art. Prior to this, she worked as Director at Tyler Rollins Fine Art, with a focus on contemporary Southeast Asian art; Saffronart, as a Specialist in South Asian Art; and Bodhi Art as a gallerist and Associate Curator. She has worked for Miditech, where she helped produce documentary series on Indian art and architecture and other projects for the BBC. She has an MA in medieval Indian history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and an MA in South Asian art history from Florida State University.
Leah Stoddard has curated over 100 exhibitions, including 12 large-scale projects for the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia, where she was Deputy Director of Exhibitions and the Adjunct Curator of Contemporary Art (2011-14). In addition, she was the Director of Second Street Gallery, a nonprofit artspace in Charlottesville, Virginia (2000-2008) and the first Development Director of the McGuffey Art Center (2017-18). She is an independent curator, artist advisor, and teaches at James Madison University, including courses in Museum Studies and Renaissance to Modern Art. Stoddard has an MA in art history/criticism from Stony Brook University and a BA in art history from Carleton College.
Purvi Shah’s favorite art practices are her sparkly eyeshadow, raucous laughter, and seeking justice. She won the inaugural SONY South Asian Social Service Excellence Award for leadership fighting violence against women. Her new book of poetry, Miracle Marks, explores women, the sacred, and gender & racial equity. Discover more @PurviPoets or https://purvipoets.net/.
Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist and activist whose work spans performance, painting, film, photography, printmaking, public art, and interdisciplinary projects. She is the creator of the climate justice art and advocacy project Storytelling with Saris, which is now in its eighth year. She has engaged thousands of people around the world with her installations, performances, workshops, and public art. She has had 20 solo shows, including at the Bangladesh National Museum and the MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome. As an artist originating from Barobaishdia Island, Bangladesh, Bose brings her history into contemporary art. Her heritage and community may drown under the Indian Ocean.
This project is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Please join us for a Zoom poetry and art workshop for the public art project CONCRETE DREAMS. The workshop is led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover. Future workshops will be mostly on Zoom. Those who fully participate in at least two workshops will receive a small stipend if age 15 or older. If you do not have access to internet or devices to participate on Zoom, please let us know by emailing storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com.
What is CONCRETE DREAMS? It’s a temporary public art project that involves the public in Washington DC and Katakhali Village, Bangladesh. CONCRETE DREAMS is led by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with light artist Robin Bell and will drape cotton saris and project images and poetry on the facade of the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW, Washington DC. The duration of the installation will be three days in May 2021. There will also be small movable sculptures or “steles” on the sidewalk with poetry phrases written on them. The public is invited to join zoom and outdoor workshops led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover in Fall/Winter 2020 and Spring 2021 to compose poetry and art on themes of the pandemic, race, gender, and climate justice. These poems will be placed on the saris, used in projections, and in the movable sculptures. All materials will be supplied.
ASL interpretation provided. Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com if you need ASL or other language interpretation or any other accommodation.
This project is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.
Please join us for a Zoom poetry and art workshop for the public art project CONCRETE DREAMS. The workshop co-facilitated by artists Monica Jahan Bose and Maps Glover.
What is CONCRETE DREAMS? It’s a temporary public art project that involves the public in Washington DC and Katakhali Village, Bangladesh. CONCRETE DREAMS is led by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with light artist Robin Bell and will drape cotton saris and project images and poetry on the facade of the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW, Washington DC. The duration of the installation will be three days in May 2021, currently scheduled for May 2-23, 2021 (depending on weather). There will also be small movable sculptures or “steles” on the sidewalk with poetry phrases written on them. The public is invited to join zoom and outdoor workshops led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover in Fall/Winter 2020 and Spring 2021 to compose poetry and art on themes of the pandemic, race, gender, and climate justice. These poems will be placed on the saris, used in projections, and in the movable sculptures. All materials will be supplied.
ASL interpretation provided. Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com if you need ASL or other language interpretation or any other accommodation.
This project is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.
Join artists and climate activists Monica Jahan Bose and Robin Bell for the premiere of the WARMING WATERS film and discussion about their continued collaboration and the new public art project CONCRETE DREAMS. The online event will take place at April 22 at noon EST on April 21 at 10 pm Bangladesh time.
WARMING WATERS and CONCRETE DREAMS are public art projects that involve the public in Washington DC and Katakhali Village, Bangladesh. They are led by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with Robin Bell and members of the public. WARMING WATERS took place in 2020, with an Earth Day Virtual Event and the actual installation delayed to July 2020 on the C&O Canal wall in Georgetown, DC. CONCRETE DREAMS will drape cotton saris and project images and poetry on the facade of the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW, Washington DC. The duration of the installation will be three days in May 2021 (planned for May 20-23, depending on weather). There will also be small movable sculptures or “steles” on the sidewalk with poetry phrases written on them through printmaking on plaster. The public has been engaged in zoom and outdoor workshops by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover in Winter/Spring 2021 to compose poetry and art on themes of the pandemic, race, gender, and climate justice. These poems will be placed on the saris, used in projections, and in the movable sculptures. This project is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.
Join us to experience CONCRETE DREAMS at the exterior and sidewalk in front of the DC Arts Center in May 2021. Tentatively scheduled for May 20-23, 2021. Dates may shift based on weather. Check here for latest updates.
Location: DC Arts Center (exterior/sidewalk), 2438 18th
Street, NW, Washington DC, 20009.
Dedication/Opening: Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 7 pm, followed by projections from 8:30 to 10 pm. Livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/StorytellingWithSaris
Viewing hours: May 20, 2021 from 6-10 pm, May 21, 2021 from 6 -10 pm, May 22, 2021 from 2-10 pm, May 23, 2021 from 2-6 pm.
Poetry Slam: May 22, 2021 at 7 pm, followed by projections.
Projections: May 20-22, 2021 from sundown to 10 pm, livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/StorytellingWithSaris
All dates weather dependent.
In honor of AAPI Heritage month, CONCRETE DREAMS links communities in solidarity from DC to Asia. CONCRETE DREAMS is a temporary public art project that involves the public in Washington DC and Katakhali Village, Bangladesh. CONCRETE DREAMS is led by Monica Jahan Bose in collaboration with light artist Robin Bell and will drape cotton saris and project images and poetry on the facade of the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW, Washington DC. The duration of the installation will be four days in May 2021. There will also be small movable sculptures or “steles” on the sidewalk with poetry phrases written on them. The public has been engaged in zoom and outdoor workshops led by Monica Jahan Bose and co-facilitated by artist Maps Glover to compose poetry and art on themes of the pandemic and the intersection of race, gender, and climate injustice.
“Concrete poetry” refers to poetry that is drawn or arranged as a design on the page. CONCRETE DREAMS uses concrete poetry and printmaking to highlight the dreams and aspirations of residents of DC and Katakhali towards a sustainable and just future. The poetry is inscribed on saris, on the building through a light installation, and on small plaster sculptures in the form of “steles.” The project enhances and merges with the street energy, night life, and restaurants in Adams Morgan, DC, including the Streatery program moving restaurants into the street.
All visitors must wear masks and follow social distancing. Please do not come if you are feeling unwell or have recently tested positive for COVID-19. To allow viewing from home, we will be livestreaming every night May 20-22 at https://www.facebook.com/StorytellingWithSaris.
CONCRETE DREAMS is funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program. It is part of the ongoing STORYTELLING WITH SARIS climate justice art project.
ASL interpretation provided at dedication on May 20th at 7 pm. Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com if you need information, interpretation, or other accommodation.
Click here for PRESS RELEASE.
Please join us for the premiere of the WRAPture film (running time 48 minutes) at the Kennedy Center’s Reach outdoor pavilion as part of জলসা Jalsa (REMIX), a wonderful evening of music, poetry, art, and film curated by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. About the film:
“WRAPture: A Public Art Project” follows a seven-month-long climate justice art engagement from Anacostia DC to a remote Bangladeshi island on the frontlines of climate change. Bangladeshi-American artist Monica Jahan Bose leads over 200 people to co-create 65 climate-themed saris and then wraps five DC buildings with them. While they work on the saris, the participants recite poetry, sing, and dance, creating a trans-border community.
CLICK HERE FOR REACH OUTDOOR MAP
The doors open at 5:30 pm on Thursday, June 24, 2021 with DJ Shuno Re শুনো রে and an art market. Storytelling with Saris with have booth at the art market with books, prints, and WRApture soundtrack CDs. Come early and dance with us!
7:30 pm — 9:45 pm WRAPure Film Premiere with Monica Jahan Bose, including multilingual poetry and music by Storytelling with Saris participants, with violin accompaniment by Sonia Herrero, the film’s soundtrack composer. This will take place at the outdoor Video Wall. Live poets and singers: Ahmad Woodard, Rashad Ullah, Qua Charmant, Philip Mecham, and Sonja Berry. Remarks/poetry/music followed by film at sundown.
EVENT IS FREE AND NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
Click Here for Kennedy Center Website and more details, directions etc.
Public transportation: Bus 80 or Metro Foggy Bottom on Blue, Orange, and Silver lines (short walk to Kennedy Center on New Hampshire Avenue).
Parking available on street or in Kennedy Center’s underground garage.
This is an outdoor event with limited seating available for seniors and persons with disabilities. ASL and captioning provided. It is suggested that you bring a blanket or folding chair. Feel free to bring food and drink for a picnic dinner. Drinks and snacks are also available at the outdoor cafe. Please remember to bring a mask. Under Kennedy Center’s current protocols, fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear a mask while outdoors but must wear masks to use restrooms or enter snack bar.
Vision Statement:
APAC:
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center is proud to partner with The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. Established in 1997, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center brings history, art and culture to diverse audiences through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives throughout the United States and abroad. Join us for JALSA (REMIXED) – a weekend of celebratory sounds, storytelling and dance affirming the creativity, joy, and resilience of our AAPI and Global South diaspora communities in the DMV. Jalsa, meaning gathering or celebration in cultures stretching from the Arabian peninsula to South Asia, returns for its second iteration since the Asian American Literature Festival in 2019.
MILLENIUM STAGE:
This summer, Millennium Stage will celebrate our societal emergence from the pandemic and the return of live performance with a summer of outdoor experiences curated by artists and organizations from around the DMV. Typical of Millennium Stage performances, the stage will be graced by a diverse array of musical and cultural styles. We will work in partnership with old (including The Washington Ballet, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and embassies, as well as internal partners like the National Symphony Youth Fellows) and new partners. There will be your standard live streamed activity from 6-7pm, packed with a variety of activities for a deeper experience with each of our partners. We’ll host a weekly film night on Thursday, there will be music and performance on Friday night, and a full day of activity on Saturday featuring practitioners from across the city leading yoga sessions, dance lessons, performances by young people, educational activities, an arts market and more. All activity will take place outside on the REACH so we can ease back into togetherness in a beautiful environment that allows for continued social distancing. 
Please join us for this performance at Asbury Park, NJ as part of Transformer’s Siren Arts Program, which this year is called RIPPLE. Click here for Press Release.
Transformer celebrates the 5th year of our Siren Arts program back on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ this summer, supporting 5 east coast based artists presenting innovative performance art works that address human & environmental interconnectedness. Each artists’ 3 day beach residency includes public artist talks 6pm Wednesdays at The Asbury Hotel’s Salvation rooftop space, and performances 7pm Thursdays on the 2nd Avenue Beach:
July 20 – 22: JungWoong Kim & Germaine Ingram (Philadelphia, PA)
July 27 – 29: Armando Lopez-Bircann (Washington, DC)
August 3 – 5: Monica Jahan Bose (Washington, DC)
August 10 – 12: Jaime Sunwoo & Johnnie Cruise Mercer (Brooklyn, NY)
August 17 – 19: Eli Barak (Baltimore, MD)
In Offering, Bangladeshi-American artist Monica Jahan Bose draws on rituals using water, turmeric, salt, and saris to speak to climate change, rising waters, and salt incursion into agricultural soil. Offering is part of her ongoing climate justice art project Storytelling with Saris (started in 2012), which collaborates with women from her ancestral island village and people in the US. The sari, a precolonial garment that is passed down through generations and never discarded, represents continuity and renewal. Bose makes offerings to the wind, sand, and sea towards the goal of renewal and cleansing. With a circle of handwoven climate-themed saris, she reates a healing space, offering the opportunity to increase our connection with the Earth and inspire us to take steps to reduce our carbon footprint and cool down our planet. The public is invited to join the performance.
Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist whose work spans painting, printmaking, film, performance and public art. Her socially engaged work highlights the intersection of climate, racial, gender, and economic injustice through co-created workshops, art actions, and temporary public art installations and performances. She is the creator of STORYTELLING WITH SARIS (launched in 2012), an ongoing art and advocacy project with her ancestral village of Katakhali, Bangladesh.
Photo credit: Ben Droz, from Rising performance in Miami Beach ©2018 Monica Jahan Bose.
