The Pink Power (Carbon Free) installation at the Katzen Center at American University engaged many people during the four-week exhibition as well as in the process of creation. The site-specific installation of six saris hanging from the rotunda included two climate pledge saris that were part of an outdoor workshop with American University students for AU’s Year of Climate Action. These saris were carried to the White House and U.S. Capitol with students rallying with the Sunrise Movement. The 2022 Year of Climate Action is designed to catapult AU to new levels of self-reflection, outreach, and engagement with climate change as an issue and with the communities that climate change touches.  Monica Jahan Bose’s Storytelling with Saris project collaborates with women farmers from her ancestral village in Bangladesh and others around the world to take action on climate and create community and conversation around the issues of climate and gender justice.

The saris in Storytelling with Saris take on different roles and shape shift from one use to another. The pink saris were previously part of the Sustain installation at Unity Park in Washington DC. They started out in Bangladesh and were printed with woodblocks by Bose and women farmers. They were also worn and used in a performance in on the Bay of Bengal before coming to Washington DC.

Numerous students and others came to see the installation, including Bose’s own “Studio Experience” class at AU, Georgetown Professor Jennifer Natalya Fink’s undergrad and grad students in her “Hybrid Genres” class in the English Department, and other students in studio art and environmental classes as well.

This video was shown during the reception and during class visits. It was available in a QR code as well.

Address: American University, Katzen Center for the Arts, 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington DC.  Exhibition dates:  August 12-September 10, 2022. Open daily from 7 am to 11 pm.

Reception:  Saturday, August 27, 2022 from 7 to 8:30 pm.