Events

Nov
17
Thu
2022
Smithsonian artist’s talk @ Smithsonian
Nov 17 @ 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Smithsonian artist's talk @ Smithsonian

In the Pandemic’s Wake: Social Change and Reflection with Asian American and Pacific Islander Leaders

November 17, 2022: Artists in a Pandemic Landscape

Art has the power to reshape how we understand the world, to call out inequality, and demand justice. Join the conversation moderated by Smithsonian Curator of Hawai’i and the Pacific Kālewa Correa with artist Monica Jahan Bose, and designer Hina Puamohala Kneubuhl, who each create works that address climate change, social justice, and women’s rights.

Hear how the pandemic affected their art practices, as well as their perspectives on how COVID was received in different political, cultural, and community areas.

This program is part of the fall series In the Pandemic’s Wake: Social Change and Reflection with Asian American and Pacific Islander Leaders presented by Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and Asian Pacific American Center with federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. A Zoom webinar link will be emailed to all registrants and live captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided. For any questions or concerns about accessibility for this online panel, please contact Amanda Sciandra (SciandraA@si.edu).

The recording of the talk is here. https://naturalhistory.si.edu/events/after-hours-programs-adults/pandemics-wake-artists-pandemic-landscape

Accessibility
ASL-interpreted program, Captioning
Sponsor: Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
Apr
24
Mon
2023
Nourish: Earth Day Planting & Poetry Workshop @ The Nicholson Project
Apr 24 @ 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Nourish: Earth Day Planting & Poetry Workshop @ The Nicholson Project

It’s time to celebrate Earth Day all month long! Join us for a planting, poetry, and art workshop at The Nicholson Project’s garden. We will be cleaning and planting the garden with Kendra Hazel, the new Garden Manager at Nicholson. Artist Monica Jahan Bose will lead us in creating poetry and art inspired by the garden. We will have more workshops in the summer with Monica followed by an exhibition and poetry slam at The Nicholson Project in September.

If you have joined prior Storytelling with Saris workshops, please bring with you your folder of materials — journal, pencil etc. Looking forward to seeing you!

Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com with any questions or accommodation needs. ASL will be provided.

Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist whose work spans painting, printmaking, performance, film, and interdisciplinary projects. Her social practice work highlights the intersection of climate, racial, gender, and economic injustice through co-created workshops and temporary public art installations and performances. She is the creator of STORYTELLING WITH SARIS, a long-term art and advocacy project with her ancestral village of Katakhali, Bangladesh. 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.

Kendra Hazel is the 2023 Garden Manager at The Nicholson Project. She is an herb enthusiast, urban garden educator, and a plant based chef. She studied Health Science at Florida A&M University, has worked with neighborhood community gardens independently and as the Community Garden Spaces manager with City Blossoms, and recently founded Green Things Work where she shares her holistic approach to wellness.

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.

This project is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Image: Planting workshop for Sustain, © 2022 Monica Jahan Bose, photo credit: Paris Preston.

Jun
12
Mon
2023
Nourish: Planting & Poetry Workshop @ The Nicholson Project
Jun 12 @ 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Nourish: Planting & Poetry Workshop @ The Nicholson Project

 Join us for a planting, poetry, and art workshop at The Nicholson Project’s garden. We will be cleaning and planting the garden with Kendra Hazel, the new Garden Manager at Nicholson. Artist Monica Jahan Bose will lead us in creating poetry and art inspired by the garden. We will have more workshops in the summer with Monica followed by an exhibition and poetry slam at The Nicholson Project in September.

If you have joined prior Storytelling with Saris workshops, please bring with you your folder of materials — journal, pencil etc. Looking forward to seeing you!

Please email storytellingwithsaris@gmail.com with any questions or accommodation needs. ASL will be provided.

Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist whose work spans painting, printmaking, performance, film, and interdisciplinary projects. Her social practice work highlights the intersection of climate, racial, gender, and economic injustice through co-created workshops and temporary public art installations and performances. She is the creator of STORYTELLING WITH SARIS, a long-term art and advocacy project with her ancestral village of Katakhali, Bangladesh. 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.

Kendra Hazel is the 2023 Garden Manager at The Nicholson Project. She is an herb enthusiast, urban garden educator, and a plant based chef. She studied Health Science at Florida A&M University, has worked with neighborhood community gardens independently and as the Community Garden Spaces manager with City Blossoms, and recently founded Green Things Work where she shares her holistic approach to wellness.

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.

This project is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Image: Planting workshop for Sustain, © 2022 Monica Jahan Bose, photo credit: Paris Preston.

Jul
7
Fri
2023
Sari workshop with students
Jul 7 @ 1:00 PM – 3:00 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 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 school.

Aug
1
Tue
2023
Electric Bangladesh: Fossil Free Futures Exhibition @ The Foundry
Aug 1 @ 4:00 PM – Aug 4 @ 8:00 PM
Electric Bangladesh: Fossil Free Futures Exhibition @ The Foundry

Please join me at this exhibition, for which two of my works have been commissioned. Five leading Bangladeshi artists are sending a message to GE and demanding a fossil fuel free future, with a new Boston-based art exhibition titled ‘Electric Bangladesh: Fossil Free Futures’.  DETAILS HERE

Through our artwork, we are calling on GE to end its greenwashing – claiming to be green while backing massive fossil gas projects – and instead back clean renewable energy in Bangladesh.

Presented by Climarte and commissioned by Market Forces, the exhibition will run from 1-4 August at the Point Gallery at @CambridgeFoundry in Boston – right around the corner from GE’s new headquarters.

 

Aug
8
Tue
2023
Feminist Film Night @ The Reach
Aug 8 @ 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Feminist Film Night @ The Reach

Join us for a short film and a feature length film followed by Q&A with feminist filmmakers/artists Indrani Nayar-Gall and Monica Jahan Bose.

Happy hour starts at 6:30 pm and films start at 7:15 pm

There will be wine and snacks provided but outside food and drink is welcome.  Both films are fully captioned.

String of Stories

a film by Indrani Nayar-Gall (72 minutes) presents the ordeals of three women who have been victims of the Devadasi tradition. The nonlinear treatment of the film provides a glimpse into the insidious ways in which the system works, especially how it has ruined their lives. These women, who hail from the least privileged sections of society, have been sacrificed at the altar of this illegal practice. Scarred by their experiences, they find themselves stripped of the fundamental rights to safety and education. Will they be able to rise above it and turn their lives around?

Dreaming In Green

a film by Leena Jayaswal (in collaboration with Monica Jahan Bose) about the Storytelling with Saris

ecofeminist art project. Commissioned by the Smithsonian for the Futures exhibition (3:43 minutes)