This sari tells the story of a flood in Bangladesh Monica Bose in collaboration with Shima and HawaMonica has been organising sari climate pledge workshops, where Americans and Europeans learn about and discuss climate change while they create a sari with woodblock printing, painting, drawing, and writing. Each person makes a pledge on the sari, committing to take a specific step to reduce their carbon footprint — such as biking and walking instead of driving, reducing use of air conditioning, eating less beef, or switching to solar energy. These pledge saris are later given to the women of Katakhali to be worn as garments. Some of these saris are in the Washington exhibition.
Monica has also led a series of workshops to share knowledge with the people of Katakhali and provide them with tools to advocate for their own rights. In 2015, she organized a climate knowledge-sharing workshop in Katakhali in collaboration with the International Centre for Climate Change and Development. Over 200 women and men and at least 80 children attended that gathering from all over Barobaishdia Island, which was facilitated by Sarder Shafiqul Alam. After the workshop, the community decided to plant more coconut trees as a climate adaptation measure. Coconut trees reduce erosion and storm surge. In January 2018, Monica led a writing workshop where Katakhali women learned how to write letters to their government representatives about recent losses they suffered from untimely rains in December 2017. One of those letters, from Sima, is framed and displayed on the gallery wall in Weather the Storm.
The exhibition also includes paintings and videos of these climate art actions, from Miami to Katakhali to Washington, which feature the coconut as a symbol of resilience. Monica translated the words to Kharobayu Boy Bege and wrote them on the gallery walls. A song from Katakhali about coconut trees, “Narkel Gach”, has also been translated by Monica onto the gallery walls. As part of her work, Monica is transcribing and translating the village women’s oral tradition songs, an important part of the cultural heritage of these at-risk coastal regions of Bangladesh.
Curator Jayme McLellan says: “Monica’s story with her heroic women collaborators in Katakhali is one of an imperative need to act but it is also a story of empowerment. She is working as an example of what can happen when one person takes action and loops in an entire and growing network toward a common goal. As with all important things, this work started small with a large determination. Its potential and impact built upon itself. The good she is doing has a ripple effect throughout the world.”Meraz Mostafa is a research officer at ICCCAD, IUB. For two years, he has been researching climate change in Bangladesh and is currently focused on how culture and the arts can be used to aid people to gain a better perspective on environmental issues.
