The Neighborhood Art Space at Aloki is hosting an exhibition titled “চলমান (Choloman) Ongoing” by artist and climate activist Monica Jahan Bose at Aloki’s Shala Art Gallery in the capital.
The exhibition began on March 1, and will continue until Saturday (March 9).
Monica is exhibiting in Bangladesh after nine years and is visiting Bangladesh on a cultural exchange through the US State Department’s Art in Embassies program.
The exhibition is an immersive installation featuring a new three-channel video and colorful cascading saris on the theme of climate change and women.
Curated by Ruxmini Choudhury, the exhibition will run is open daily from 3:00pm-9:00pm.
There will feature a performance by the artist on Saturday.
The public is invited to join and participate in this performance about gender and climate change.
She will collaborate with women from Katakhali, members of One Billion Rising Bangladesh, and others in the closing performance on Saturday.
The chief guest at the closing will be Saber Hossain Chowdhury, MP, Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
The Choloman exhibition is an in-progress snapshot of Monica Jahan Bose’s ongoing decade-long Storytelling with Saris collaborative art project, addressing climate change and its impact on women, food, and our environment through saris, film, and performance.
The word "choloman" in Bangla means ongoing, moving, or continuous and is especially used to refer to films that are running.
Monica has worked for more than a decade with women farmers from her ancestral village in Katakhali, Barobaishdia Island, Patuakhali District along with residents of her home in Washington DC and others around the world.
The saris are covered in woodblocks designed by Monica, along with writings and paintings by people around the world.
"As we struggle to survive in a world devastated by climate change, we need to build community and hope through art. Through Storytelling with Saris, I am trying to preserve cultural heritage while highlighting the stories of climate injustice," said the artist.
"Monica's unwavering dedication and imaginative flair shine brightly in this vibrant and poetic exhibition. By ingeniously employing identical saris across various performances and installations, she prompts essential reflections on the responsible utilization of materials in both art and our environment. Through this thought-provoking approach, she advocates for a conscientious shift towards reducing consumption and promoting the ethos of reuse," said Ruxmini Choudhury, curator of the exhibition.
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, and temporary installations and performances.
She has exhibited her work extensively in the US and internationally (22 solo shows, five outdoor public art projects, and more than 25 performances), including solo exhibitions at the Bangladesh National Museum and Macro Museum of Contemporary Art Rome.
Her ongoing decade-long collaborative art and advocacy project Storytelling with Saris with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 12 US states, engaging thousands of people.
Her paintings, saris, and archives are in the collection of the Smithsonian.
Monica was an artist delegate to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, presenting sari installations, workshops, and film screenings in four venues.
She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a diploma in art from Santiniketan, and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.