Events
Also please support our wonderful local bookstore, which is hosting this official event.
https://www.politics-prose.com/noorjahan-bose
NOORJAHAN BOSE – Noorjahan Bose (she/her) is a feminist writer, social worker, and activist, living between the US and Bangladesh. She is the founder of two US-based organizations to empower South Asian women, ASHA (now Ashiyanaa) and Samhati. She has a BA (Honors) in Bangla literature from Dhaka University and a Masters in Social Work from Catholic University in Washington DC. She worked for many years as a social worker with refugees and the elderly at Catholic Charities, with foster children for Prince Georges Country, MD, and with ICU patients at DC General Hospital. She also founded the first Bangla School in the DC area, running it out of her home for more than 10 years.
Please stop by for the final day of “Nourish: Storytelling with Saris”! Monica Jahan Bose will be there during gallery hours from noon to 4 pm and will be happy to give you a tour of the exhibition.
Nourish: Storytelling with Saris
Location: The Nicholson Project, 2310 Nicholson Project SE, Washington DC, Bus B2 and many others
Exhibition Dates: September 10-November 4, 2023
Gallery Hours: Wednesdays 2-6pm + Saturdays 12 noon – 4pm
Link to Washington Post Review.
Nourish: Storytelling with Saris is an installation of video, drawings, poems, saris, and kanthas inspired by plants and herbs. Touching the soil and growing food are grounding and nourishing. For the last two years, Bangladeshi-American artist Monica Jahan Bose and DC participants in her Storytelling with Saris project have been connecting with the soil and Earth and food justice issues by nurturing plants on windowsills and planting neighborhood vegetable gardens. This year they planted and harvested in the garden at The Nicholson Project. Bose led a series of planting workshops that included poetry and art inspired by soil and plants. Using performance, sari art, writing, and film, Storytelling with Saris, which commenced in 2012, links DC residents with Bangladeshi coastal women farmers in solidarity to address climate and food injustice. There is a concurrent exhibition by Stephanie J. Williams.
Monica Jahan Bose bio: 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 (20 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 10 states and seven 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.
This project was supported by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.
The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics in collaboration with the Earth Commons presents, When Will the Water Come – an evening of readings, short plays, monologues, poetry, and music about water and our environment, featuring students from Professor Derek Goldman’s TPST/ CULP 2036 Global Performance and Politics course, as well as professional guest artists, curated and directed by Ashanee Kottage, Lab/Earth Commons Fellow.
Location: 1801 35th St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (the old Fillmore School, in Glover Park)
Date/Time: Monday November 6, 2023, 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Monica Jahan Bose’s short performance is in the very beginning.
The performance brings together an expansive range of cultural perspectives, theatrical forms, and narratives to explore the scientific, political, elemental, and intimately personal dimensions of water. This multi-disciplinary performance and roundtable event features material from the recently launched We Hear You–A Climate Archive, a global performance project exploring youth perspectives on the climate emergency and the 2023 Climate Change Theater Action a worldwide festival of short plays about the climate crisis presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP meetings. This event is also part of an ongoing suite of activities featuring student and professional performances curated by The Lab leading up to COP 28, including the forthcoming conference Sustaining the Oasis: Envisioning the Future of Water Security in the Gulf, to be held at the Georgetown campus in Qatar.
We are honored that the following guest artists and students will share their work with us and join us for a roundtable discussion (moderated by Prof. Derek Goldman and Ashanee Kottage) and reception with some light refreshments at the end of the performance.
Chantal Bilodeau – Founder of CCTA
LubDub Theater (Miranda Rose Hall, Caitlin Nasema Cassidy (We Hear You Project Director), Robert Duffley (We Hear You Project Dramaturg), Geoff Kanick)
We Hear You Stories:
Nadia’s story, THE HORIZON
Michael’s story, COME BACK ANOTHER DAY
Rebecca’s story, MANTA MAGIC
Swedian’s story, WHEN WILL THE WATER COME?
CCTA Plays:
Wild Parsnips by Tira Palmquist
la jiao pang xie, shao la (“chilli crab, less spicy”) by Dia Hakim K
Undertow by Keith Barker
A Hummingbird’s Ululation by Aleya Kassam
(up)rooted by Caity Shea-Violette
To request an accommodation, inquiries about accessibility, or if you have any questions/ issues getting to the space please email us at globallab@georgetown.edu.
Monica Jahan Bose will create a sari installation called “Sari Resilience” during the COP28 climate conference in Dubai. It will be part of Hope House in the arts district and accessible to all (no blue or green badge needed).
Dates: November 30-December 11, ,2023.
Address: Jossa, Warehouse 45 Alserkal Avenue – 17th St – Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Interactive Climate Sari workshop: November 30 from 7-10 pm at Open House (RSVP at link below)
Hope House is a “canvas for hope,” a place of rest, resilience, culture and inspiration set in a warehouse space in the vibrant Alserkal arts district in Dubai. All visitors to COP28 are invited to come and join us. More details about Hope House at this link.
Workshop details: Join artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose for interactive storytelling and art-making on a six-meter-long Bangladeshi sari. We will be composing short poems and making art together about climate hope in solidarity with coastal women farmers on Barobaishdia Island in Bangladesh. This hands-on art workshop builds cross-border community and climate resilience as part of the decade-long Storytelling with Saris art and advocacy project.
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, installations and performances. Monica 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 including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her decade-long collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 11 US states, engaging thousands of people. She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a Diploma in Art from Santiniketan, India, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
Location: Entertainment + Culture Pavilion, Expo City, Blue Zone B7, Building 90 (same building as Women & Gender and Youth Pavilion), Ground Floor.
If you are going to COP28 in Dubai and have a Blue Zone pass, please join us at The Entertainment + Culture Pavilion (Blue Zone) and check out my sari installation and all the amazing programming. I will also be doing a performance for the opening ceremony of the E+C Pavilion at around 10:30 am on November 30th and a multimedia storytelling and interactive sari workshop on December 2 at 4:30 to 5:30 pm.
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, installations and performances. Monica 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 including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her decade-long collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 11 US states, engaging thousands of people. She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a Diploma in Art from Santiniketan, India, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
Join Monica Jahan Bose for an interactive sari workshop during the open house for Hope House in the Arts District. The event and Monica’s sari installation will take place during the COP28 climate conference in Dubai. It will be part of Hope House in the arts district and accessible to all (no blue or green badge needed).
Address: Jossa, Warehouse 45 Alserkal Avenue – 17th St – Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Interactive Climate Sari workshop: November 30 from 7-10 pm at Open House (RSVP at link here)
Hope House is a “canvas for hope,” a place of rest, resilience, culture and inspiration set in a warehouse space in the vibrant Alserkal arts district in Dubai. All visitors to COP28 are invited to come and join us. More details about Hope House at this link.
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: OPEN (HOPE) HOUSE – A warm welcome to COP28 UAE from Time for Better and celebration of Earth featuring an interactive media opportunity to share your climate story with Imagine5. Women’s Environmental and Climate Action (WECAN) will provide an Earth Dedication to inspire optimistic outcomes at COP28 UAE. *Hope House guests are welcome to bring rocks, soil, and water from their homelands to combine into vessels which will symbolize our collective efforts to make a positive difference.
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, installations and performances. Monica 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 including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her decade-long collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 11 US states, engaging thousands of people. She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a Diploma in Art from Santiniketan, India, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
Monica Jahan Bose will be presenting at the Bangladesh Pavilion on December 1 at 3:30 to 5 pm.
The Pavilion is in Blue Zone B2, Building 21, ground floor.
Join internationally-acclaimed artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose for multimedia storytelling and art-making on a six-meter-long Bangladeshi sari
Storytelling with Saris connects people around the world through art with action steps to address climate change in solidarity with women farmers from artist Monica Jahan Bose’s ancestral village on Barobaishdia Island, Patuakhali District, Bangladesh. Monica is working to preserve the intangible heritage of these women’s folk dances and oral tradition Bangla songs, which may be lost due to climate change. She will show images and video and share stories about climate impacts in coastal Bangladesh and the resilience of these communities even in the face of losing crops, land, and intangible heritage. Everyone will join in drawing and writing on a sari. This hands-on art workshop builds cross-border community and climate resilience.
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, installations and performances. Monica 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 including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her decade-long collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 11 US states, engaging thousands of people. She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a Diploma in Art from Santiniketan, India, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
Location: Entertainment + Culture Pavilion, Expo City, Blue Zone B7, Building 90 (same building as Women & Gender and Youth Pavilion), Ground Floor.
If you are going to COP28 in Dubai and have a Blue Zone pass, please join us at The Entertainment + Culture Pavilion (Blue Zone) on December 2 from 4:30-5:30 PM!
Join internationally-acclaimed artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose for multimedia storytelling and art-making on a six-meter-long Bangladeshi sari
Storytelling with Saris connects people around the world through art with action steps to address climate change in solidarity with women farmers from artist Monica Jahan Bose’s ancestral village on Barobaishdia Island, Patuakhali District, Bangladesh. Monica is working to preserve the intangible heritage of these women’s folk dances and oral tradition Bangla songs, which may be lost due to climate change. She will show images and video and share stories about climate impacts in coastal Bangladesh and the resilience of these communities even in the face of losing crops, land, and intangible heritage. Everyone will join in drawing and writing on a sari. This hands-on art workshop builds cross-border community and climate resilience.
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, installations and performances. Monica 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 including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Her decade-long collaborative project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 11 US states, engaging thousands of people. She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a Diploma in Art from Santiniketan, India, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
Please join us for the online launch of 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. 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. During the launch, artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose will introduce the project and then lead a poetry and art workshop where we will create poetry and art 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.
To learn more and become part of this exciting venture, please register using the Eventbrite link.
Here is the Zoom link for the workshop on December 13 at 4:30 PM (Eastern time): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85156753263?pwd=RlRlY0Y1a25HVDR3eTIzUC9TN2xnUT09
If you have joined prior Storytelling with Saris workshops, please have with you your folder of materials — journal, pencil etc. In the spring we will be having in person workshops to finish the saris. Looking forward to seeing you! Here is a link to our workshop.
ASL interpretation 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.
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.
South Asia Institute is pleased to announce its new exhibition, “The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness,” in collaboration with the Paglees.
The Paglees is a feminist collective of artists of South Asian origin living across the United States. Paglee or pagli means crazy woman in a number of South Asian languages. The Paglees are: Fawzia Khan, Indrani Nayar-Gall, Monica Jahan Bose, Nirmal Raja, Pallavi Sharma, Renluka Maharaj, and Shelly Bahl.
In their debut exhibition, The Paglees investigate – with fierceness, beauty, and wit – the impact on women of generations of patriarchy, religion, white supremacy, colonialism, violence, capitalism, and environmental plunder.
The title of the exhibition derives from Rosa Parks’ words: “There is just so much hurt, disappointment and oppression one can take. The bubble of life grows larger. The line between reason and madness grows thinner.” (Rosa Parks: Writings, Notes and Statements,1956-58).
Featuring mixed-media works on paper, fabric, and canvas, sculpture, performance, photography, installation, and moving image, The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness, questions and reframes the labeling of non-conforming women as crazy and the marginalization of immigrant women of color. This collective exhibition presents new decolonial narratives that center the reason and wisdom of brown women of the Global South and diaspora, and provide pathways to a creative feminist future. The Paglees believe in working in collaboration with other marginalized communities to build bridges and demand social, environmental, and legal justice for all.
