Author: mara.ahmed

recreating history

My IG account was hacked and deleted on April 9th this year. A kind of erasure. I will be recreating history off and on by digging into posts archived elsewhere by friends and collaborators. Here is one from @phototrouveemagazine??

Repost from @phototrouveemagazine:

Spotlight on issue 12 featured artist Mara Ahmed @mara__ahmed. “My art practice focuses on crossing borders and dismantling political and cultural boundaries. I work in multiple disciplines and narrative formats to tell marginalized stories and build community. The personal and political are intertwined in my practice. For example, the experimental short film, Le Mot Juste (2021), which was selected for an exhibition by Chicago’s South Asia Institute, is a fusion of autobiography, film, and dance. It spotlights three languages: Urdu, French, and English. In the analog and digital collage series, This Heirloom (2012-2014) which has been widely exhibited in New York and California, I recreated my own history by using old black and white photographs sourced from my family archive. In conjunction with my NYSCA-funded film, Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation (2023), I created three collages that subvert the colonial male gaze in found postcards from the British Raj (early 1900s). My aim was to rewrite history by relocating South Asian women from derelict studios, where they had been subjected to Orientalist fantasies, and reconnecting them to their roots. I placed the women in their native cities, adorned with architectural details and built with Indian textiles.”

beautiful sunday in rochester

sunday: lovely breakfast with ted at hydra coffee, lunch at sinbad’s with andrea who is working on a fascinating project about river cultures and collective memory, a visit to ruth and russell’s old home on crosman terrace (russell’s garden looks as splendid as ever), finally, ‘newtown’ the play about sandy hook at geva theatre (thank u laura) with my friend muna, followed by some late night gupshup at java’s.

back in rochester

it’s no secret that i love rochester! this morning i spent time with my brilliant friend ruhi – we had tea, talked about everything under the sun, and took a walk in her magical garden. back to zemeta’s ethiopian restaurant for lunch and then film testing at roc cinema – the film looks and sounds great! can’t wait for the premiere tomorrow at 12pm. went for a walk at highland park and felt transformed by its beauty. designed by the same guy who designed central park, it’s breathtaking in spring. spent the evening with my dear friend karen. her exhibition at anderson arts building, studio 402, is wonderful and i was lucky to receive one of her beautiful pieces <3 met my friend sarita outside the building:) now relaxing at my bnb before the big day tomorrow. hope to see u all roc friends!

Return to Sender Review by Cathy Salibian

Cathy Salibian: ‘To me, that is the evocative edge of “Return to Sender.” Yes, it’s gratifying to see a current generation of South Asian women take back their images and stories. It’s even more illuminating—and unsettling—when I take or view a photograph, to ask myself: What is going on here? Who is the viewer, who is the viewed? What assumptions and power dynamics are encoded in this artifact? What is my role in all of this? This is how Ahmed invites participation in the living edge of history.’

Brilliant film review in the Beacon. Pls join us for a Rochester premiere and community discussion on May 4, 12pm, at the Cinema.

Return to Sender | Rochester Premiere at ROC Cinema

Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation is coming to Rochester, New York, on May 4th at 12pm.

The screening will be followed by a panelist discussion. Seating is limited. You can buy your tickets below.

PROGRAM DETAILS: Come join us for the Rochester premiere of Mara Ahmed’s Return to Sender, an afternoon of film & community discussion at ROC Cinema! 

Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation is a short, experimental film directed and produced by Mara Ahmed. This project was funded by a NYSCA grant. It pushes the documentary medium in unexpected ways by opening with three contemporary South Asian American women who recreate British colonial postcards from the early 20th century. Dressed in lavish traditional attire and jewelry and shot exquisitely in a darkened studio, the women emulate the awkward poses of the postcard women, only to subvert the colonial male gaze and acquire autonomy by choosing an action of their own. This symbolic ‘returning’ of the Orientalist gaze is layered with discussions about Eurocentric beauty standards, representations of South Asian women in media and culture, stereotypes, othering, identity and belonging. The film hopes to create community by facilitating conversations about erasure and the politics of representation.

Join us for an afternoon of movie magic at ROC Cinema. You will be transported into a world of early 20th century postcards and all the conversations they provoke. Be part of the discussion with panelists Urvashi Bhattacharya, Hernease Davis and Sumayia Islam, as well as Director Mara Ahmed. Don’t miss out on this exclusive event – mark your calendars now! See you there!

DATE: Saturday, May 4, 12:00 – 2:00 PM

VENUE: ROC Cinema (957 S Clinton Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620) is a luxury theater featuring the latest food trends, drinks, and first class entertainment. You’ll have an electrifying night, while watching a movie.

PANELISTS: Learn more about panelists Hernease Davis, Urvashi Bhattacharya and Sumayia Islam here.

FILM REVIEW: Read Cathy Salibian’s brilliant film review in the Rochester Beacon here.

Return to Sender: Panelists

We will have an amazing discussion after the premiere of ‘Return to Sender’ in Rochester, NY, on May 4th, 12pm, at the Cinema.

Buy tickets here.

Post-screening panelist Sumayia Islam:

Sumayia graduated from Nazareth University with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science. She is currently working as a Community Impact Coordinator for a Philanthropic Foundation. Sumayia is one of the brilliant women featured in the film.

Panelist Hernease Davis:

Hernease is a photo-based artist and an Assistant Curator at the Visual Studies Workshop where she develops programming that addresses contemporary conversations in the photographic arts. Hernease earned her B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College and her M.F.A. in Advanced Photographic Studies from Bard College.

Panelist Urvashi Bhattacharya:

Urvashi spent the first 26 years of her life in India and professes an unwavering loyalty to the Indian cricket team and vegetarian food. While in India, she got her Masters in International Economics and an MBA but moved to the United States before embarking on her professional journey. She currently works at Syracuse University where she is Director of Strategic Initiatives and Project Management. Urvashi stars in the film along with Sumayia Islam and Fatimah Arshad.

abbu’s birthday

happy birthday to my dad! my parents were unsual/ unusually progressive and completely focused on education and work in the world, rather than marriage or other societal templates or expectations. it made for an interesting life, sometimes chaotic but interesting nevertheless. my dad’s addiction to travel (which he still has) formed not only us but also our children. happy happy abbuji!

Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People

Went to see Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People at the Circle in the Square in NY last Sunday – a Broadway revival directed by Sam Gold, w Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli.

The stage is long and narrow, surrounded by audience members, lit by oil lamps, with various scenes taking place at different ends. It’s the late 1800s, we are in a Norwegian coastal town. The tone is set in the beginning, with actors singing Norwegian folk songs.

Jeremy Strong plays the protagonist, Dr Stockmann, w warmth and intensity. As my daughter said, the ensemble comes to life as soon as he steps on stage. He radiates sincerity.

The story is well-known. The economy and future of the town are intertwined with its recently opened Baths, which are meant to transform it into a health resort. Stockmann discovers that the waters are contaminated and his brother, the Mayor, goes to work doing everything he can to suppress his brother’s report and turn the townspeople against his “theories” which will destroy local businesses.

Stockmann is a typical Ibsen anti-hero – upright and courageous, yet also deeply flawed. There is a brief detour into eugenics and part of Stockmann’s crusade for the truth is activated by his arrogance, but Jeremy Strong endows him with vulnerability and earnestness, and breaks our hearts when the doctor is attacked and humiliated.

The parallels with our present reality cannot be overstated. As people are targeted, fired, silenced, and turned into pariahs for speaking the truth about settler colonialism and genocide in Palestine, we are seeing the same kind of crucifixions by ideological mobs.

I loved Strong’s performance in Succession, where he finessed his role into a complex Shakespearean character. Film is polished and controlled, whereas theater is raw, visceral, unfinished. Strong is absolutely brilliant. The end of the play is abrupt, and he was visibly shaken – still trying to sort his emotions as he took the final bow.

Amy Herzog’s adaptation is a seamless update of Ibsen’s language, a trimming down of the story and characters, and apt humor. After being pilloried by the townspeople, Stockmann thinks about moving to the US: “This could never happen in America.” Prolonged, raucous laughter from the audience.

Set design and direction are inventive, with a light touch. The town hall scene begins with a bar descending from the grid, serving Norwegian Linie with music by A-ha. Audience members gathered on stage to get drinks but then the actors appear and the town hall begins right in that setting. A fantastic crossing over of time and geography. This is what theater should be – unexpected, exhilarating, moving.

Support Deema Dalloul

Friends, I would like to draw your attention to another gofundme, another family trying to escape the massacres in Gaza. This is Deema Dalloul, a 20-year old writer who shares her experiences of loss and displacement in the midst of a genocide in her Gaza diaries. Here is part of an entry from March 30, 2024. Pls help with whatever amount you can. Every bit matters ??

‘At first, I used to believe that small families are the best fit: you don’t need lots of luggage and it’s not even costly to escape at any moment. One car could be more than enough, no struggles with one room, and certainly, a single bed might do the trick. Yet, all my beliefs were altered once my friend’s twin brothers became martyrs in the south, away from all their other siblings, leaving a heartbroken family struggling to survive again with missed fractions. I realized that large families could do better in such tragedies. No matter how much effort it takes to get them in one car, or how many mattresses they might own — not to mention the food they would demand — it’s still a blessing to have someone left if (God forbid) any misfortune occurs.

Yet again, all of these reflections were to evaporate once again, after another friend told me that her family had been divided. Part of them were forced to the south, while the others remained in the northern areas. Other family members were sent to the sky sooner than they could have ever imagined. They have no way of contacting each other: they live in the continuous horror of “not knowing.” Even a tiny word can cause them to panic.’

You can read more of Deema’s work here.

Thank you

screening of ‘return to sender’ at stony brook

what a wonderfully organized screening of ‘return to sender: women of color in colonial postcards & the politics of representation’ at stony brook university’s humanities institute last night. a thrill to work with liz montegary, chairperson of women’s, gender & sexuality studies at stony brook, and to be a panelist along with avina mathias and emelyn pareja-garcia who both did an internship on this project. so many amazing friends and neighbors in the audience and then dinner at ixchel mexican cuisine to end the night on a high note.

Return to Sender screening at Stony Brook University

What a wonderfully organized screening of ‘Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation’ at Stony Brook University’s Humanities Institute. A thrill to work with Liz Montegary, Chairperson of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Stony Brook, and to be a panelist along with Avina Mathias and Emelyn Pareja-Garcia who both did an internship on this project. So many amazing friends and neighbors in the audience and then dinner at Ixchel Mexican Cuisine to end the night on a high note.