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!
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: 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.
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.
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.
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.
beautiful video synopsis of my presentation at the @visualstudiesworkshop on march 28th by marili vaca @democratandchronicle. thank u for all ur support genae and marili <3
Repost from @democratandchronicle:
Mara Ahmed @mara__ahmed spoke at the Visual Studies Workshop @visualstudiesworkshop in Mar. 28, 2024 to discuss her most recent film ‘Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation’ which will be premiering May 4 at ROC Cinema @roccinema
Ahmed used archival video, film and lantern slides provided by the Visual Studies Workshop. She also created a space that allowed for open discussion and dialogue.
Ahmed’s documentaries center marginalized voices and focus on communities grappling with nuanced experiences surrounding racism, colonization and Islamophobia.
Video by Marili Vaca @marili.photography / Democrat and Chronicle
I am thrilled to announce that I will be coming to Rochester, NY, on March 28th to present a dialogue between my work on colonial postcards and the Visual Studies Workshop’s film and lantern slide archives!
This will be an exciting conversation where we will see clips from my new film, about the aftershocks of colonialism, juxtaposed against film clips from Rochester in the 1970s that talk about police control and violence. We will make connections to current political power systems and pay special attention to the representations of women from the global south and white feminism. I make a lot of presentations, but this is the first time I have engaged with an institution’s archives and located my work within that framework.
Pls join us and add to the convo. You can register here.
Here is more info from the VSW’s website:
Mara Ahmed is an interdisciplinary artist and award winning activist filmmaker. Mara’s documentaries center marginalized voices and have focused on communities grappling with nuanced experiences around racism, colonization and islamophobia. She will present a program that incorporates her work with postcards, lantern slides and films she has researched and chosen from the VSW archive. Mara will also present clips from her latest film, Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation, which was awarded a NYSCA film grant, and will premiere at a future time in Rochester.
The evening will culminate in a discussion with Mara Ahmed facilitated by Hernease Davis, the Assistant Curator of Education and Public Programs. This program will also be livestreamed via twitch.tv.
Stills from Return to Sender: Sumayia Islam, Fatimah Arshad, Urvashi Bhattacharya
on international women’s day, with some kickass women of color, conspiring to overturn genocidal systems and suffuse the world with palestinian poetry <3
great screening at montauk library yesterday afternoon. small audience but most excellent questions, for example, the role played by caste when engaging with representations of indian women in colonial postcards. after the screening, lunch at streetfood on the green. it was a beautiful sunny day. will have to come back soon.
I have loved Kenyan American artist Wangechi Mutu‘s beautiful and unsettling work for decades now, and I had missed her solo exhibition ‘Intertwined’ at the New Museum, so it was a thrill to see it in New Orleans @neworleansmuseumofart. “Representing the full breadth of her practice, this exhibition encompasses painting, collage, drawing, sculpture, film, and performance. Mutu first gained acclaim for her collage-based practice exploring camouflage, transformation, and mutation. She extends these strategies to her work across various media, developing hybrid, fantastical forms that fuse mythical and folkloric narratives with layered sociohistorical references… Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined traces connections between recent developments in Mutu’s sculptures and her decades-long exploration of the legacies of colonialism, globalization, and African and diasporic cultural traditions.“ I loved the Subterranean series (a stunning fusion of woman and nature) and was moved by Mutu’s work on the Rwanda genocide which is displayed on a ‘wounded wall’ full of bullet holes rubbed with blood-red pigment. Reminded me of Gaza.
yesterday afternoon at the sculpture garden, new orleans museum of art: ‘the twelve-acre sculpture garden at NOMA is one of the most important sculpture installations in the united states, with over 90 sculptures situated on a beautifully landscaped site among meandering footpaths, reflecting lagoons, spanish moss-laden 200-year-old live oaks, mature pines, magnolias, camellias, and pedestrian bridges.’ the sculptures mesh beautifully with their environment and the moss-covered oaks seem ghostly, dream-like, unreal.
today i got to meet madera rogers-henry of the recycle project and ric kasini kadour of the kolaj institute – a side of new orleans, its art scene, and people i’d love to learn more about. yummy brunch at who dat coffee and fabulous dinner at N7. drove to riverbend (violet) and passed thru this pecan tree tunnel. this morning we saw wonderful views of the city from crescent park. nola has such a chill, artsy vibe. but u know what truly aligned things for me in a big way? the free palestine graffiti i found all over the city. i’d love to create art here!
