I will be screening ‘Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation’ and giving a talk at the New Orleans Museum of Art on Thursday, June 13th, 3:15-4:15 pm, as part of Kolaj Fest organized by the Kolaj Institute. New Orleans friends, pls join the discussion and come and say hello.
More details here.
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.”
it was a full house! thank u rajesh, casey, muna, urvashi, hernease, and sumayia. thank u beautiful friends and community. to more enlightening art and conversations, but also more courage and action. we can learn so much from students risking everything to change this racist violent world.
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.
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.
i cannot believe this but my instagram account was hacked and deleted by the hacker yesterday. 6 years of postings, photos, and memories. almost 2000 followers. meta does not have a mechanism set up to contest the changing of one’s account email or phone number. one is helpless. anyway, it made me realize how ephemeral ‘online’ is. we must find more concrete, private ways of documenting, remembering, connecting, grieving or celebrating. this is my new account. pls connect if u’d like: __maraahmed
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
we had to bring in extra chairs to fit everyone tonight at the visual studies workshop. it was more than a full house. so many people i love and admire in the audience. a presentation about colonial postcards, internal colonialism, police brutality, and white feminism, with strong connections to palestine and the ongoing genocide in gaza. a question for the audience about how to develop a decolonial feminist lens and then a group discussion to figure out more humane ways of ‘looking’ at one another.
thank u hernease davis and the @visualstudiesworkshop
rochester, i love u. too many incredible people live here.
in rochester, and the first place i had to visit, of course, was the french quarter. ethan, who has grown up in front of our eyes, recognized me. even after three years of being away on long island. unbelievable. this is a new, pared-down location but the food is as good as ever.
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.
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.
Screenings of A Thin Wall are coming up in Ahmedabad, India! Pls attend if you are in the area. Repost from @arthshila_ahmedabad:
Arthshila Ahmedabad’s Film Showcase this week features A Thin Wall by Mara Ahmed
A Thin Wall is a documentary about memory, reconciliation, and the Partition of India. It focuses on a unique event but derives lessons that remain urgently relevant today.
23 Feb 2024 | 5:30 pm
24 – 25 Feb 2024 | 11:30 am
Venue: Arthshila Ahmedabad, 2-G, opposite Ahmedabad Management Association, Panjrapol, Ambawadi – 380015
Screening of ‘Return to Sender’ and community discussion at Montauk Library on March 3rd, 2:30-4pm. This event is free and open to the public. See you in beautiful Montauk, the eastern-most tip of Long Island.
