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.
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.
Stills from Return to Sender: Sumayia Islam, Fatimah Arshad, Urvashi Bhattacharya
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.
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.
Ready for a post screening discussion and Q&A this morning at 8:30am, following a screening of A Thin Wall at @theblackholeislamabad where it was 6:30pm. Great convo with Osama Malik, who made this event happen, followed by brilliant questions from the audience. They had to do with nation states, porous borders, the imagining of alternative futures, and my own personal views about the partition. TBH is a non-profit that strives to be an open-to-all educational and cultural space in Islamabad. Such a pleasure to connect with incredible people and places in Pakistan
Forgot to take a screenshot when on Zoom, but here is the YouTube video
Spotlight on issue 12 featured artist 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.”
From Mariam Sandhu: My dear friend, fellow artist, activist, filmmaker and humanitarian Mara Ahmed has expanded a project started in 2020 entitled “Warp & Weft” to highlight the voices of the Palestinian people and the horrific situation that is unfolding in front of the entire world’s eyes. It is a compilation of Palestinian poems given voice by fellow activists and artists. I am just one ordinary human asked to participate – join us in raising the voices of the Palestinian people by following her IG account @Warpandweftarchive
There will be a screening of our film “A Thin Wall” at the Partition Museum in Delhi on January 27th. Pls attend if you are in the area:
The Partition Museum presents a film screening of “A Thin Wall,” a documentary about memory, history and the possibility of reconciliation, with co-producer Surbhi Dewan who will be in conversation with a panel consisting of author Dinesh Shrinet, film critic Murtaza Ali Khan and poet Roshni Gupta. The discussion will be moderated by educator Pallavi Singh.
The screening and discussion will be held on Saturday, 27th January, from 10:30am to 1:30pm at the Dara Shukoh Auditorium, Partition Museum, Delhi.
Registration is needed.
Date: Saturday, 27th January
Time: 10:30am to 1:30pm
Location: Dara Shukoh Library, inside Dr. BR Ambedkar University, Lothian Road
I have a dream: For Liberation from the Congo to Palestine – at an MLK rally in Mineola (which marked 100 days of the ongoing genocide in Gaza) where I was honored to speak about the “triple evils” of racism, poverty, and militarism, and reference the work of both Dr. King and Cedric Robinson who taught us the meaning and deadly implications of racial capitalism:
“Racial capitalism explains why the US and UK are bombing Yemen to protect shipping lanes, but refuse to protect the lives of Brown children in Gaza.
Racial capitalism explains why the House passed a $14.5 billion package in additional aid to Israel. The understanding is that Israel will spend that money on US bombs, and redirect taxpayers’ money (which is publicly owned) into private pockets.
Racial capitalism is why the impulse to ‘empty’ Gaza went hand in hand with bids for gas exploration along its coastline.
In the same way, the intersection between racism, the creation of ethnic divisions by colonial powers, and non-stop capitalist extraction, has led to horrors in the Congo.
In Sudan too, the atrocities that we are seeing emerge from a divide and rule policy that created conflict and facilitated colonial theft.
Whether it’s the domestic policing of Blacks, immigrants, and Muslims, increased incarceration and border security, or racist wars such as the war on terror or the war on drugs, we always return to the unholy alliance between racism, economic exploitation, and military violence.”
Thank you dear Farhana Islam for inviting me and thank you dear Nia Adams for introducing me to Farhana <3
