An unusual educational project is unfolding — or perhaps I should say unfurling — around the corner from We Act Radio’s studio in Historic Anacostia. The Anacostia Arts Center is now draped with traditional South Asian garments decorated by DC locals. District artist Monica Jahan Bose, whose family comes from Katakhali – a remote village located on a Bangladeshi island – created the multimedia project called “Storytelling with Saris.”
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Through an exhibit and workshops held at the Arts Center, Ms. Bose shares the stories of 12 women from Katakhali, with an emphasis on how climate change is impacting their home. Participants in the DC workshop then help decorate saris, with designs that incorporate pledges to care for the environment: A sun and light-bulb design includes the words “Make the effort to turn off the light,” for example.
The saris will be incorporated into a performance this fall and then brought to Katakhali, where they will be worn by Bangladeshi women. In this way, participants in DC and Katakhali are intimately linked through art and storytelling that educates and impacts lives in both places.
Ms. Bose works with a 15-year-old solidarity project empowering Katakhali women and their families through adult literacy classes, skills training, leadership development, scholarships for poor children, a pre-school, and free or sliding fee health services though a Health Center. She joins the Education Town Hall on June 4 to discuss this multi-level educational project. Meanwhile, there are two remaining workshops for those local to DC – May 30 and June 6 – open to children 11 and older as well as adults.
Register here. Here are more details.
The exhibit is accessible any time the Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Road, SE, is open.
Storytelling With Saris
May 30: Woodblock Print Workshop, 11 am – 2 pm
June 6: Closing Reception and Woodblock Print Workshop, 11 am – 2 pm
The Education Town Hall broadcasts from Historic Anacostia in Washington, DC, Thursdays
at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on We Act Radio.
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