thrilled that some of my artwork will be part of the malverne art walk opening this saturday, june 17th. also delighted that they used my artwork in designing their poster and that the long island herald shared my story in their news coverage of the event. hope to see u there!
Planning the post-screening discussion for ‘Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards and the Politics of Representation’ with the brilliant Farhana Islam. Farhana will be one of the panelists who will respond to the film after the premiere on Oct 1st, at Cinema Arts Center in Huntington. The film’s trailer is coming soon. Stay tuned!
the light coming thru our skylight has this weird orange glow. forest fires in canada are affecting air quality here in ny.
spent the day in northport with my sister and nephews. what a gorgeous day! an early dinner at bistro 44 (my favorite) followed by ice cream from lics and a walk in the park. long island is beautiful!
what a high school graduation party! family, yummy food, and great music. congrats to my brilliant nephew and his fam. babson college here he comes!
my beautiful sister is here! hanging out with her and my brilliant nephews <3
i got to share some of my writing and my translations of faiz ahmed faiz’s poetry yesterday at teatro yerbabruja’s firehouse gallery. bethany smith sang and so many wonderful musicians and poets shared their work. there was such diversity in terms of style and presentation, language and theme, medium and approach (i should have taken more pictures, it was a full house). it’s truly a blessing to have found this space, created by a woman of color, on long island. thank u everyone who organized, presented, shared and witnessed. an unforgettable night!
i’ve been incredibly lucky to have been sustained by, to learn from, and to delight in the company of brilliant women. the tradition continues. mashallah. ambreen, cherie, saima and swati, love u all. more pictures from the unforgettable evening we had at @teatro.yerbabruja’s firehouse gallery coming soon.
Thrilled to finally see Shahzia Sikander’s ‘Havah…to breathe, air, life’ in Madison Square Park. The genius and beauty of her work are always breathtaking.
‘In the park, Sikander places a monumental female figure that teems with symbolic imagery, titled Witness. Wearing a hoop skirt inspired by the courtroom’s stained-glass ceiling dome and detailed with mosaic, the figure’s arms and lower legs swirl into a decorative motif suggesting tree roots, a reference to what the artist has called the “self-rootedness of the female form; it can carry its roots wherever it goes.” The figure’s hair is braided to resemble a ram’s horns, identified in Eastern and Western traditions as a symbol of strength.’
‘Atop the historic Courthouse, NOW, another female figure—similar in form to the sculpture in the park, but without the embellished skirt—arises from a colorful lotus, a symbol of wisdom. The work’s connection with the Courthouse is imbued with meaning as the building’s rooftop is crowned by plinths inhabited by statues of nine historic and religious male legislators, including Confucius, Justinian, Lycurgus, Moses, and Zoroaster—but without a single woman represented atop a plinth until Sikander’s installation. Sikander’s work both physically and symbolically elevates the female figure, putting her on level plane with the traditionally patriarchal embodiments of justice and power.’
spring celebration in nyc with some lovely ladies. rooftop parties are the best and the sky was something wonderful! thank u cherie <3
spent the day in DUMBO, brooklyn, with our wonderful kids. had brunch at vineapple on pineapple street, walked around brooklyn and manhattan bridges, then relaxed at my son’s apt in midtown. got so many flowers from my puppies. what a lovely day! happy mother’s day everyone!
p.s. yes, my husband and i are twinning:)
today on world collage day, i’d like to share a collage i created for my son’s upcoming birthday. it’s a nostalgic visual memory of my son jumping into canandaigua lake many summers ago when we had a gorgeous lake house there. to me it epitomizes family fun and a time of togetherness which hopefully launched our kids in life the right way. spent all of yesterday working on it, but 8 hours of bending over it and cutting my finger while framing it, were worth it. esp since my son has always valued my artwork and used it extensively to decorate his apartment. to my beautiful son and to more active, outdoors, meaningful family time <3
mara ahmed. springboard, may 2023, print and paper collage on cardboard, 14”x10”
since most of my work is visual (art, film, photography), it’s always something special to share my poems and writing. i will be doing just that on friday may 26th at teatro yerbabruja’s firehouse gallery, as their featured artist along with opera singer and pianist bethany smith. thank u swati srivastava for organizing.
how wonderful is this compact audio-visual synopsis of my work? thank u asian pacific islander american association of greater rochester, especially Mimi Lee and Lily Lee, and WXXI for all ur work in acknowledging and celebrating the APAA community.
i’m so excited that two stony brook students will be doing an internship with me this summer. they will help curate an art exhibition at huntington’s history & decorative arts museum which will be shown in concert with the short film ‘return to sender: women of color in colonial postcards & the politics of representation.’
the students will collaborate with me in telling the story of the exhibition and create a digital catalog. my vision is to provide more context for the film thru this exhibition but also to create and display beautiful art.
thank u to the @huntingtonhistoricalsociety and stephanie gotard in particular for being my community partner. thank u stony brook faculty for setting the internships up. and thank u huntington arts council for facilitating every facet of getting a nysca grant for this project.
