Please join us for walkthrough tour of SWIMMING and a short film about the project as part of Adams Morgan Movie Nights. Come reserve your seat for the movies and get a personal tour of the exhibition from artist Monica Jahan Bose and other members of the team. At dusk (around 9 pm), a short film about SWIMMING will be the preview for Adams Morgan Movie Nights, on the soccer filed next to the SWIMMING installation. SWIMMING is a new public art project by Monica Jahan Bose that brings together communities in Washington DC and Bangladesh, speaking to the healing properties of water and swimming and inequities in access. Adams Morgan Movie Nights main feature films are: June 11: Battle of the Sexes [Pride Night} and June 18: Race [Juneteenth]
Curated by Sarah Tanguy, SWIMMING is a temporary site-specific installation of 22 saris and "VideoSoundwalk" at the outdoor plaza of the Marie Reed Elementary School & Aquatic Center. The project explores the deep and essential connections we have to water as our world faces increased flooding, drought, and rising sea levels due to climate change. The VideoSoundwalk is accessed via QR codes. Please bring a smartphone (if possible), and earphones/earbuds for best audio experience. WEATHER DEPENDENT! In the event of rain, we may have to cancel/eschedule.
Featuring 22 blue Bangladeshi saris arranged to evoke a swimming pool and a massive wave, the SWIMMING exhibit is augmented by a VideoSoundwalk with QR codes that interweave poetry with sounds of water, nature, and music and images of Bose and participants creating, wearing, and interacting with the saris. The public art project has been co-created with DC residents from across the city, including Marie Reed students, teachers, and parents, and people in Bangladesh. The saris are hand-printed with water-themed woodblocks designed by Bose along with writings, art, and poetry by the community, during workshops Bose led over an eight-month period. The two-week installation will be accompanied by public engagement events, including poetry slams and performances, film screenings, and site visits/artist talks.
Marie Reed is the former Morgan school, which was desegregated along with the Adams school, giving the name to the Adams Morgan neighborhood. The Marie Reed pool is now being used by DC to teach swimming to children from various schools, a project that aims to redress racial discrimination in access to swimming. SWIMMING is a visual representation of sustainability, inclusion, and resilience and is part of Bose’s ongoing climate justice collaboration Storytelling with Saris.
About Monica Jahan Bose: 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, temporary installations, and performances. She has exhibited her work extensively in the US and internationally (23 solo shows, five large-scale 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 collaborative art and advocacy project STORYTELLING WITH SARIS (since 2012) with women farmers from her ancestral island village has traveled to eight countries and 12 US states, engaging thousands of people. Her work has appeared in the Miami Herald, the Washington Post, Art Asia Pacific, the Milwaukee Sentinel, the Honolulu Star Advertiser, the Japan Times, the BBC, Prothom Alo, and all major newspapers in Bangladesh. She was an artist delegate to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, presenting sari installations, workshops, and film screenings. She has a BA in the Practice of Art (Painting) from Wesleyan University, a post-graduate diploma in art from Santiniketan, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
Lead Artist: Monica Jahan Bose
Curator: Sarah Tanguy
DCPS Collaboration: Valeria Monfrini, Art Teacher, Marie Reed Elementary School
Photography/Livestream: Paris Preston
Marketing design/Social media: Jen Saavedra
Press/media inquiries: Kelly Davidson. Email: info@kellymavenmedia.com.
Funded by the DC Commission on the Arts are Humanities, Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.
Community partners: The Adams Morgan Partnership BID, Marie Reed Elementary School & Aquatic Center, The DC Arts Center, Calvary Womens Services, and Moms Clean Air Force.
Exhibition Schedule:
Location: Marie Reed Plaza, 2201 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
Exhibition dates June 6-20, 2024
Thursday, June 6, 2024 @ 5-8 PM: Opening Event. With dedication, poetry recital, and livestream starting @ 6 pm.
Saturday, June 8, 2024 @ 3-5 pm: Artist/curator walkthrough talk at site
Tuesday, June 11, 2024 @ 7:30 pm: Walkthrough tour and screening “Swimming” short film as part of Adams Morgan Movie Night (at dusk).
Saturday, June 15, 2024 @ 5 pm: Performance
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 @ 7:30 pm: Walkthrough tour and screening short film as part of Adams Morgan Movie Night (at dusk).
