Events
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.
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
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.
“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.
The 2024 Women’s Environmental Leadership Summit is a two-day virtual event hosted by Smithsonian’s Center for Environmental Justice at the Anacostia Community Museum. It will take place from October 18-19, 2024 via Zoom meetings. The summit aims to bring together individuals for mentorship, education, training, and leadership opportunities in the field of environmental justice.
Join Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose for a hands-on workshop focused on the power of art and poetry to build climate resilience and hope. In this workshop, we will learn how to connect with the Earth and recenter ourselves towards unity with other creatures, soil, plants, and farmer women in Bangladesh, as part of the global climate justice art project Storytelling with Saris, ongoing for more than a decade. We will reflect on our own climate stories and actions, create short and long form poems, pledges, and writings, have a collective poetry slam, and transform our poems into visual poems incorporating imagery and color. The final works will be finished and shared on Day Two as a virtual exhibition and performance. The works will also be shared with the participants, the Smithsonian, and as part of the Storytelling with Saris project. No prior experience in poetry or art is needed. Please come ready to share your positive energy for the Earth and our sisters across the planet.
The workshop is in two parts — October 18 from 1:45 to 3:15 pm and October 19 from 1:45 to 2:45 pm.
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 summer, 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 in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
The Business of Public Art
Friday, January 31, 2025
11 am – 12:30 pm ET
Virtual via Zoom
Join Public Art Coordinator Kerry Kennedy and three art professionals—Monica Jahan Bose, Jessie Himmelrich, and Antoine Williams—as they share their experiences navigating the unique challenges of creating art in the District. From communicating an artist’s vision to writing grant applications, engaging the community, and installing public art, the process demands a diverse and intricate skill set.
Discover what it takes to successfully navigate the Public Art Building Communities (PABC) grant application and bring stunning artworks to life in the Nation’s Capital.
For full details and to RSVP please visit dcarts.dc.gov or grab the direct link from our Linktree in our bio!
Storytelling with Saris workshops will take place in February 2025 in Bangladesh. The workshops will include sari printing, new kantha creations from worn saris from Storytelling with Saris, new song creation, and performance.
Please come to the unveiling of Monica Jahan Bose’s first ceramic sari, called “Rising,” which will be installed in the Kalorama Triangle alley behind her studio. The ceramic tile mural will be mounted on the garage wall of the home of Mary Miller and Dennis Farley. We will have an unveiling celebration on March 9 from 3-5 pm in the alley behind 2015 and 2017 Belmont Rd, NW. Monica’s studio will also be open and there will be a film screening of the performances that inspired the “Rising” ceramic work.
“Rising” speaks to our connection as humans with the outdoor environment, including the water, the trees, and other species. It is designed with ceramic tiles using the same techniques and design concepts as the Storytelling with Saris saris. As in the fabric saris, the border tiles feature woodblock patterns. The tiles were rolled out by hand out of reclaimed clay. Monica pressed her sari woodblocks into the wet clay to create impressions. These border tiles were then handpainted using wax resist technique. The middle tiles of the sari comprise a figurative painting that Monica painted by hand using glazes.
Monica worked with ceramic artist and fabricator Elle Brande of Moonlight Studios in Beltsville, Maryland to create the work over the course of several months. Monica and Elle were colleagues at Red Dirt Studio many years ago and Elle assisted Monica in some of her very first performances with saris. We are thrilled to share this brand new work with the community. It serves as a small-scale prototype for future projects.
