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.

CLICK HERE FOR BROCHURE.

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.

Reception, workshop, and artist’s talk:  September 15, 2021 from 4:30 to 6 pm.

Exhibition dates: August 31-October 1, 2021.

RENEW is a solo-exhibition of the work of Bangladeshi-American artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose.  Bose will be a visiting artist at Washington College, which is in Chestertown, Maryland, a riverfront community on the frontlines of climate change in the Chesapeake Bay region.  She will meet the students and visit their studios, present her exhibition, and organize a hands-on public workshop and talk in the gallery.  The show includes paintings, handprinted collaborative saris, sculptures, works on paper, books, and performance video, all of which speak to climate justice and the need to renew our relationship with the Earth, move towards renewable energy, and renew our commitment to ecological living.

Join us for a driveway salon and the outdoor premiere of the performance film Offering, from the Asbury Park, NJ performance presented by Siren Arts and Transformer.  Cinematography by Matt Gere and original score by Sonia Herrero.  My studio will also be open.  Covid-19 vaccination required.   Drinks and fun guaranteed!  Please enter from alley off of 20th street — do not ring front door as we will be in the back.

Please join us for the culminating performance and poetry slam for Prokash/Reveal.   We have held a series of six free bilingual Bangla/English art and poetry workshops  addressing identity, gender/sexuality, mental health, and immigration/race for people of all genders of Bangladeshi/Bengali origin in the NYC metro area.  The workshops were conducted in two age groups: two for self-identified younger people (14-30+),  two for an older group, and two for the groups together.  The workshops were co-facilitated by Monica Jahan Bose and Ali Asgar Tara.  It has been a wonderful experience to finally find the words to discuss these taboo topics.  We will come together to share our art and poetry in an outdoor performance where we sew together a community identity scroll. 

RAINDATE:  October 10 at 11 am to 1 pm.

Getting there:  Avenue C Plaza is located at the intersection of McDonald Ave and Ave C in Kensington and is accessible via the F/G trains at Church Ave and the B67 bus.

The project is presented by Arts & Democracy with lead artist Monica Jahan Bose.  This programming is supported by the Asian Women Giving Circle, a donor advised fund of the Ms. Foundation for Women. It is also supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.

Group Exhibition, Curated by Nirmal Raja, featuring approximately 30 artists and collaborations, at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
Exhibition dates: October 11 – December 4, 2021

Zoom Panel “Climate Change & Sustainability: Transnational Perspectives in Art,” Oct. 28, 2021, 6:30 p.m. CST (7:30 pm EST), with Monica Jahan Bose, Pamela Longobardi, Jill Sebastian and Liz Bacchuber

Register for October 28 panel here.

See online exhibition content here.

For the exhibition, I created the installation “Shift” featuring five white collaborative saris, rice, dal, and brass containers, along with my soundpiece “Slow” with French musician Nirina Lune.  Shift is an installation that explores the idea of shifting our lifestyles in response to the climate crisis. The 18-foot-long cotton saris are handwoven Bangladeshi pre-colonial garments covered in woodblock prints and drawings and writings by Bose, Bangladeshi women, and people in Europe and the United States. The pandemic, by slowing us down, has highlighted the environmental impacts of our “normal” hectic life of overconsumption, commuting, and travel, leading to the heating of our planet, disruption of agriculture, and food insecurity.  The exhibition also includes the film “Rising Up to Climate Change” a film I co-directed with Leena Jayaswal.