Author: mara.ahmed

seagull at the steppenwolf theatre

tuesday night (may 10th) my sister and i went to see ‘seagull’ at the steppenwolf’s new in-the-round theater. sadly, yasen peyankov’s adaptation of the chekhov classic didn’t quite work for us.

the brisk pacing, economy of language, and non-stop humor created a disconnect between some of the messed up relationships in the play (that can evoke heartbreak) and the constant, almost canned, laughter coming from the audience. to me ‘the seagull’ is not exactly seinfeld. it’s dark humor no doubt, but it’s delivered thru sarcasm and innuendo. making the dialogue clipped and direct removes some of the layers needed to make the play work as a tragicomedy.

the actors were good but they were stuck with a less than stellar adaptation. an experience nonetheless.

#seagull #theseagull #chekhov #play #steppenwolf #steppenwolftheatre #chicago #intheroundtheatre #antonchekhov #theatreisback #theatreislife

gallivanting in chicago

my sister and i gallivanting in chicago yesterday: lunch at beatrix, afternoon spent at MCA, and then dinner at tao chicago, a spectacular restaurant housed in the historic building that used to be castle chicago nightclub before it closed in 2014. esp taken by the giant mural created by HUSH, ‘a british mixed-media artist who fuses the aesthetic of street art with subjects from japanese iconography’.

#mca #museumofcontemporaryart #chicago #taochicago #hushartist #japaneseiconography #art #sisterarethebest

The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared

The exhibit at MCA takes its name from Bani Abidi’s watercolor series “The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared” which depicts writers, political leaders and bloggers from Pakistan who have been disappeared on account of their activism over the past decade. In this minimalist delicate series, we see them disappear gradually on paper with the last watercolor portraying threadbare, eyeless, bodiless specters that continue to haunt us.

#baniabidi #mca #museumofcontemporaryart #chicago #pakistan #pakistaniartist #disappearances #politicaldisappeared #politicalviolence #stateviolence #militaryviolence #thedisappeared #themanwhotalkeduntilhedisappeared

Memorial to Lost Words

This sound installation by Pakistani artist Bani Abidi at MCA brought me to tears. A powerful memorial to the one million South Asian/Indian soldiers who fought in WW1 but have been completely erased. My own great grandfather fought in France, under British colonial rule.

Bani Abidi’s Memorial to Lost Words is a song installation based on letters and songs from the First World War. They are not the well archived memoirs of European and British soldiers, but the words of Indian Soldiers and their womenfolk back home in India. Even a hundred years after the fact, it is a little known fact of WWI history that more than a million Indian soldiers fought in this war. So, clearly, official accounts and memorials are very rarely truthful transmitters of history. This memorial draws from letters that were written home by Indian Soldiers and folk songs that were sung by their wives, mothers and sisters at the time but were censored or forgotten because of their candid condemnation of the war.

#baniabidi #pakistaniartist #mca #museumofcontemporaryart #chicago #worldwar1 #indiansoldiersinww1 #southasiansoldiers #soundinstallation #memorial

edward ryerson conservation area and then shopping

my sister’s gorgeous artwork, a morning walk at the edward ryerson conservation area (an enchanted place with fairies and magic dust), and then some shopping at the fashion outlets here in chicago – my sister helped me find the the eyeglasses of my dreams.

#chicago #edwardryersonconservationarea #morningwalk #natureisbeautiful #shoppingwithmysister #art #artwork #hangingoutwithmysister

Opening of the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Art Exhibition at Westbury Arts

Beautiful art and artists at the opening of the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Art Exhibition at Westbury Arts last evening. with @safiafatimi. More selfies coming soon.

#asianamericanpacificislander #asianamericanpacificislanderheritagemonth #artexhibition #openingreception #westburyarts #westbury #longisland

The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

What I’m reading right now: ‘The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali’ by the brilliant Uzma Aslam Khan.

Caught between British and Japanese colonialism, the Andaman Islands (a penal colony often referred to as Kala Pani) in the early 1940s are the setting for Uzma’s fifth novel.

“How is history handed down to us? Who narrates it? And what role does perspective play in shaping facts? Uzma Aslam Khan’s latest novel, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali, is a vibrant defiance of traditionally accepted histories. Through a rejection of historically privileged perspectives, well-rounded and responsible research, and a lyrical narrative that a reader can effortlessly float through, Khan gives a voice to the marginalised and oft forgotten.”

#uzmaaslamkhan #novel #books #bookstagram #themiraculoustruehistoryofnomiali #adamanislands #kalapani #penalcolony #britishcolonialism #japanesecolonialism #prison #colonialprison #colonialhorrors #india

The Warp & Weft [Face to Face] – last week at RoCo

This is the last week to experience The Warp & Weft [Face to Face] and On The Shoulders Of Giants at RoCo! Both exhibitions are concluding on May 7th.

In RoCo’s main gallery read and listen to The Warp & Weft [Face to Face] curated/ created by Mara Ahmed.

In RoCo’s Lab Space, view Ya’qub Shabazz new series of portraits of historical figures in On The Shoulders Of Giants. **Join us Friday at 6:30pm for a conversation between Joy Gallery and Sheppard Studio and Ya’qub Shabazz

Featured Warp & Weft Story: Ashwaq Abualoof

#thewarpandweft #facetoface #multilingualarchive #storytelling #2020 #yearofthepandemic #roco137 #multimedia #ExploreRochester #DigitalPainting #BLM #SupportLocalArt #ContemporaryArt #OnTheShouldersofGiants #ArtThatSpeaks #FirstFridayRoc

spring in central park

spent the day in manhattan with our daughter. what a treat to see our hardworking child (who is studying, working part time and doing an internship at IRC). a lovely sunny day and central park is glorious right now. more pictures on IG @mara__ahmed

#centralpark #nyc #newyorkcity #manhattan #daughtersareablessing #walkinthepark #sunnydayinnyc #weekendfamilytime