Events

May
8
Wed
2024
Community Workshop for SWIMMING @ Moms Clean Air Force
May 8 @ 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Community Workshop for SWIMMING @ Moms Clean Air Force

Please join us for an an art and poetry workshop to cocreate work for SWIMMING, a new public art project that explores the deep and essential connections we have to water as our world faces increased flooding and rising sea levels due to climate change. Our host is Moms Clean Air Force. In honor of Mental Health Month, we will be focusing on healing, poetry, and hands on art to increase mindfulness, reduce climate anxiety, and improve mental health. When installed in June 2024 at the Marie Reed Community & Aquatic Center in Washington DC, SWIMMING will feature a “pool” of art-embellished saris, along with a sound walk, performances, film screenings, and poetry readings. Artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose will discuss the project and then lead a poetry and art workshop where we will create poetry and art on saris inspired by the healing properties of water and swimming and inequities in access. SWIMMING is part of Bose’s art and advocacy project Storytelling with Saris. Started over a decade ago, the project has fostered collaboration with women from Bose’s ancestral island in Bangladesh as well as residents of DC and people around the world.

ASL interpretation will be provided. Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com with any questions or accommodation needs.  Register for the event on Eventbrite.

Curator:  Sarah Tanguy.  Photography/livestream: Paris Preston  Music & Sound Design: Sonia Herrero.

Community partners:  Marie Reed Elementary School and Community & Aquatic Center, Adams Morgan Partnership BID, DC Arts Center, Calvary Women’s Services.

This project is funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

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 (22 solo shows, numerous group exhibitions, and more than 25 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. 

May
22
Wed
2024
Sewing workshop for SWIMMING @ The LINE Hotel DC
May 22 @ 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Please join us for the final workshop to cocreate work for SWIMMING, a new public art project that explores the deep and essential connections we have to water as our world faces increased flooding and rising sea levels due to climate change. We will be sewing together 22 saris for the project. You do not need to have sewing experince. We are happy to teach you how to hand sew or use a machine. When installed in June 2024 at the Marie Reed Community & Aquatic Center in Washington DC, SWIMMING will feature a “pool” of art-embellished saris, along with a sound walk, performances, film screenings, and poetry readings. SWIMMING is part of Bose’s art and advocacy project Storytelling with Saris. Started over a decade ago, the project has fostered collaboration with women from Bose’s ancestral island in Bangladesh as well as residents of DC and people around the world. The workshop is generously hosted by The Line DC.

To learn more and become part of this exciting project, please register and add to your calendar. ASL will be provided.

Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com with any questions or accommodation needs.

Curator: Sarah Tanguy. Film/livestream: Paris Preston

Music & Sound Design: Sonia Herrero.  Marketing Design & Social Media:  Jen Saavedra

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

This project is funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

 

 

 

May
25
Sat
2024
Climate Hope Talk & Performance @ Shirlington Library
May 25 @ 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Climate Hope Talk & Performance @ Shirlington Library

How can you literally draw attention to the issue of climate change? Participate in CLIMATE HOPE by artist Monica Jahan Bose, presented by the Arlington Art Truck and curated by Cynthia Connolly. Join us on Saturday, May 25 for the culminating event at Shirlington Library, an Artist Talk and Community Performance (1:00-2:30 p.m.) in which participants will have the opportunity to add climate pledges, drawings, and poetry to Bangladeshi saris, sew them together in a community sewing circle, and then carry the 80-100 foot-long-massive sari billowing with your messages of hope in a procession through the streets of Shirlington and across the Four Mile Run waterway to Jennie Dean Park. Address for the artist’s talk and performance: Shirlington Library, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA. In the event of rain, the performance will be inside the library. All ages welcome and no sewing experience needed! Arlington County provides accommodations to individuals with disabilities upon request. Please contact ​us at least five (5) business days in advance.Phone: 703-228-5993 Email: Jberg@arlingtonva.us

This activation is part of an ongoing project called ‘Storytelling with Saris’ by Monica Jahan Bose. A multilayered collaborative art and advocacy project, it uses woodblock prints on saris, writing, oral history, performance, and film to empower communities in the U.S. and Europe to address climate justice in solidarity with the women of Katakhali Village, Barobaishdia Island, Bangladesh, Bose’s ancestral village situated on the frontlines of climate change. Through performance art and advocacy workshops and climate art actions in the U.S., Bangladesh, and Europe, communities are engaged to take action to fight against the devastation of our planet. Americans are learning about climate change and reducing climate anxiety through the project by writing poetry and making written commitments on saris in an act of cross-border solidarity.

Launching to acclaim in 2018 with a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arlington Art Truck was a finalist for Americans for the Arts’ 2019 Gard Award for Arts and Community Life. The Arlington Art Truck embodies the Arlington Arts mission to revolutionize the traditional model of an arts venue. Packed with digital and traditional creative tools, the “Truck” is a curated mobile toolbox for artists. From April through November, three artists-in-residence hit the streets engaging the public in art projects which are designed to blur the line between participant and presenter.

The community partner for this project is the County’s Eco-Action Arlington with guest partners Climate4Change. Learn how simple things you can do at home can help slow climate change.

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, temporary installations, and performances. She has exhibited her work extensively in the US and internationally (23 solo shows, 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. Her ongoing collaborative art and advocacy project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS (since 2012) 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 Japan Times, the BBC, Prothom Alo, and all major newspapers in Bangladesh. She was an artist delegate to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, presenting sari installations, workshops, and film screenings. She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a post-graduate diploma in art from Santiniketan, and a JD from Columbia Law School.

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Jun
7
Fri
2024
SWIMMING, a public art project @ Marie Reed Plaza
Jun 7 @ 5:00 PM – Jun 21 @ 8:00 AM
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.

 

Jun
26
Wed
2024
Harvest Time! @ The Nicholson Project
Jun 26 @ 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Harvest Time! @ The Nicholson Project

Join the Storytelling with Saris team to help harvest the vegetables from the Nicholson Project neighborhood garden.  We helped out in the garden in the spring and and are thrilled to go back to see what has been growing.  We will do some earthing exercises with Monica Jahan Bose and work with the gardener in residence, Peter Lewis.

Peter Lewis is an avid gardener, artist, and chef. He has been working with Nicholson Project since 2022 and is the main point of contact for garden activities and distribution during peak growing season. Peter also manages seeds starts and runs the Community Composting Program at Koiner Farm in Silver Spring, MD.

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  installations and performances. Bose uses the sari — a precolonial 18-foot-long unstitched garment that is always recycled and never discarded — to represent women’s lives and the cycle of life on our planet. She has exhibited her work extensively in the US and internationally (23 solo shows, numerous group exhibitions, and more than 25 performances) including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her ongoing collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has travelled to 12 US states and eight countries and engaged 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 Japan Times, and all major newspapers in Bangladesh. She 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.

The Nicholson Project is an artist residency program and neighborhood garden in Ward 7’s Fairlawn neighborhood. Its mission is to support, provide opportunities, engage, and amplify artists and creatives from our community and the local artist community—particularly artists of color and those from Ward 7 and 8—while engaging our neighbors through community-based programming. Its vision is to serve as a cultural hub and community anchor celebrating Ward 7’s authentic identity, while infusing new vibrancy into Southeast DC. We hope to inspire others to use similar non-traditional arts and community-centered projects as a pathway toward stronger, more vibrant communities.

Stortyelling with Saris is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Jun
28
Fri
2024
New Horizons in Conservation @ Westin Downtown
Jun 28 @ 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM
New Horizons in Conservation @ Westin Downtown

Monica Jahan Bose will be leading a hands-on climate sari workshop for participants in the New Horizons in Conservation Convening organized by the Yale School of the Environment.

Storytelling with Saris is thrilled to be part of this important convening.

https://jedsi.yale.edu/new-horizons-in-conservation

Jul
8
Mon
2024
Sari workshop with students
Jul 8 @ 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Sari workshop with students

Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose will lead a hands-on sari  workshop with high school students at Georgetown Day School’s Policy Institute addressing environmental and gender justice.  Participants will discuss strategies for climate action and gender justice and draw, paint, and write on a hand-woven cotton sari from Bangladesh.  For over ten years, Bose has been co-creating saris with communities as part of her Storytelling with Saris art and advocacy project. The sari will be used in installations and performances and worn by Bangladeshi women. This is a private workshop for students at the GDS Policy Institute.

Jul
10
Wed
2024
Public Presentation on “Stretch” Proposal @ Zoom
Jul 10 @ 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Public Presentation on "Stretch" Proposal @ Zoom

NOTICE REGARDING

PROPOSED PUBLIC ART PROJECT

“STRETCH”

ARTIST:  MONICA JAHAN BOSE

The art project STRETCH proposes to stretch sari fabric (temporary) across the building  and create a tile mural (permanent) at the exterior of 1724 California St NW, Washington, DC 20009. The saris are massive colorful cotton fabric covered with woodblocks designed by Bose along with writings, art, and poetry by community members in Washington DC and Katakhali Village, Bangladesh.  The tile mural would be the dimensions of a sari, 4 ft. x 19 ft. and would be affixed on the alley wall close to California Street.  Bose will lead community workshops in DC and Bangladesh to create saris and get feedback on the tile mural.  “Stretch” refers to the activities in Mint and across the street at Marie Reed Aquatics and Community Center. “Stretch” also refers to stretching our minds and our boundaries to be inclusive and expansive, dissolving borders and building community.

When: The project would be installed in Summer/Fall 2024.  The fabric installation would be for up to two weeks, while the tile mural would remain in place.

Where: The proposed site for the public art project is the exterior front and the alley behind Mint at 1724 California St NW, Washington, DC 20009.

THE “STRETCH” PROPOSAL WILL BE PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED AT THE ANC 1C VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING ON JULY 10, 2024 from 7-9 pm.  You may join the meeting here. Join on Zoom App or via Web: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85075682967?pwd=aGQ1bzBrZktZT0JueGZhbmpIZ21IQT09 

  • Meeting ID: 850 7568 2967 
  • Passcode: 890562  
  • Call-in: 301-715-8592 | On Phone: STAR-9 to raise hand; STAR-6 to unmute
  • Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/506iD4d4Xl4 

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO JOIN AND ASK QUESTIONS AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK.  Monica Jahan Bose would like to design the project with the feedback of the community.  The project is contingent on receiving grant funding from DCCAH.   Contact:  monicajahanbose@gmail.com storytellingwithsaris.com @storywithsari

Aug
15
Thu
2024
Harvest Time! @ The Nicholson Project
Aug 15 @ 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Harvest Time! @ The Nicholson Project

Join the Storytelling with Saris team to help harvest the vegetables from the Nicholson Project neighborhood garden.  We helped out in the garden in the spring and and are thrilled to go back to see what has been growing.  We will do some earthing exercises with Monica Jahan Bose and work with the gardener in residence, Peter Lewis.  Location:  2310 Nicholson St, SE, Washington DC.  Buses B2, 32, 36.  Free street parking available.

Peter Lewis is an avid gardener, artist, and chef. He has been working with Nicholson Project since 2022 and is the main point of contact for garden activities and distribution during peak growing season. Peter also manages seeds starts and runs the Community Composting Program at Koiner Farm in Silver Spring, MD.

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  installations and performances. Bose uses the sari — a precolonial 18-foot-long unstitched garment that is always recycled and never discarded — to represent women’s lives and the cycle of life on our planet. She has exhibited her work extensively in the US and internationally (23 solo shows, numerous group exhibitions, and more than 25 performances) including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her ongoing collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has travelled to 12 US states and eight countries and engaged 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 Japan Times, and all major newspapers in Bangladesh. She 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.

The Nicholson Project is an artist residency program and neighborhood garden in Ward 7’s Fairlawn neighborhood. Its mission is to support, provide opportunities, engage, and amplify artists and creatives from our community and the local artist community—particularly artists of color and those from Ward 7 and 8—while engaging our neighbors through community-based programming. Its vision is to serve as a cultural hub and community anchor celebrating Ward 7’s authentic identity, while infusing new vibrancy into Southeast DC. We hope to inspire others to use similar non-traditional arts and community-centered projects as a pathway toward stronger, more vibrant communities.

Stortyelling with Saris is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Sep
20
Fri
2024
DC Art Now
Sep 20 @ 9:00 AM – Dec 13 @ 11:28 AM
DC Art Now

“DC Art Now” Exhibition

DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, I St Gallery, 200 I Street, SE, Washington DC; metro: Waterfront

Hours: Monday -Friday, 9 am to 5:30 pm, from September 20-December 13, 2025

This is an exciting exhibition of art by DC area artists being considered for the Washington DC Art Bank public art collection to be displayed in DC government buildings.  There are dozens of artists in the show, selected by a panel of 18 judges. We are thrilled to see the collaborative “Capitol Kantha” on display. It is made from a sari that was part of the 2019 WRAPture installation, then later worn by a Bangladeshi woman farmer on Barobaishdia Island, and then cut, layered in three, and embroidered, painted and printed by women of the island and Monica Jahan Bose. The original sari also has woodblock by people of DC. Saris are never discarded. When worn thin or torn, they are cut, layered in three, and embroidered into blankets, swaddles, shawls, and wall hangings called kanthas.