at the art walk opening, in malverne today, where we saw a lot of art all over town (including my own). thank u maria casini for all ur amazing work! the artwork will be up for a month. visit malverne and check it out!
More wonderful news! A Thin Wall, my film about the partition of India co-produced by Surbhi Dewan and myself, will be screened this Saturday in Winnipeg, Canada:
The Kohinoor Collective presents Winnipeg’s first Punjabi Film Festival, featuring films about Punjabi histories, politics, and diasporas. Funding for the Punjabi Film Festival is provided by the Manitoba Arts Council and University of Manitoba Community Engagement/Prairie Asian Organizers.
A Thin Wall will be screened on Sat Jun 17 2023 at 05:15 pm and will be followed by a discussion. You can buy tickets online and then head to the Dave Barber Cinematheque in Winnipeg.
thrilled that some of my artwork will be part of the malverne art walk opening this saturday, june 17th. also delighted that they used my artwork in designing their poster and that the long island herald shared my story in their news coverage of the event. hope to see u there!
Planning the post-screening discussion for ‘Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards and the Politics of Representation’ with the brilliant Farhana Islam. Farhana will be one of the panelists who will respond to the film after the premiere on Oct 1st, at Cinema Arts Center in Huntington. The film’s trailer is coming soon. Stay tuned!
i got to share some of my writing and my translations of faiz ahmed faiz’s poetry yesterday at teatro yerbabruja’s firehouse gallery. bethany smith sang and so many wonderful musicians and poets shared their work. there was such diversity in terms of style and presentation, language and theme, medium and approach (i should have taken more pictures, it was a full house). it’s truly a blessing to have found this space, created by a woman of color, on long island. thank u everyone who organized, presented, shared and witnessed. an unforgettable night!
i’ve been incredibly lucky to have been sustained by, to learn from, and to delight in the company of brilliant women. the tradition continues. mashallah. ambreen, cherie, saima and swati, love u all. more pictures from the unforgettable evening we had at @teatro.yerbabruja’s firehouse gallery coming soon.
today on world collage day, i’d like to share a collage i created for my son’s upcoming birthday. it’s a nostalgic visual memory of my son jumping into canandaigua lake many summers ago when we had a gorgeous lake house there. to me it epitomizes family fun and a time of togetherness which hopefully launched our kids in life the right way. spent all of yesterday working on it, but 8 hours of bending over it and cutting my finger while framing it, were worth it. esp since my son has always valued my artwork and used it extensively to decorate his apartment. to my beautiful son and to more active, outdoors, meaningful family time <3
mara ahmed. springboard, may 2023, print and paper collage on cardboard, 14”x10”
since most of my work is visual (art, film, photography), it’s always something special to share my poems and writing. i will be doing just that on friday may 26th at teatro yerbabruja’s firehouse gallery, as their featured artist along with opera singer and pianist bethany smith. thank u swati srivastava for organizing.
how wonderful is this compact audio-visual synopsis of my work? thank u asian pacific islander american association of greater rochester, especially Mimi Lee and Lily Lee, and WXXI for all ur work in acknowledging and celebrating the APAA community.
i’m so excited that two stony brook students will be doing an internship with me this summer. they will help curate an art exhibition at huntington’s history & decorative arts museum which will be shown in concert with the short film ‘return to sender: women of color in colonial postcards & the politics of representation.’
the students will collaborate with me in telling the story of the exhibition and create a digital catalog. my vision is to provide more context for the film thru this exhibition but also to create and display beautiful art.
thank u to the @huntingtonhistoricalsociety and stephanie gotard in particular for being my community partner. thank u stony brook faculty for setting the internships up. and thank u huntington arts council for facilitating every facet of getting a nysca grant for this project.
i am so honored to be part of the asian pacific islander american association of greater rochester’s 2023 pioneers, innovators, and entrepreneurs exhibit at rochester city hall. the exhibition is curated by the wonderful Mimi Lee and Lily Lee and will be on display until may 31st. thank u dearest Debora McDell Hernandez for taking this picture and for being honored as ally and friend of the APAA community <3
breakfast at amberly’s eatery this morning with friends doing wonderful things in the world (love u debora, amanda and rachel), color grading and post production on my new film with the brilliant rajesh (we forgot to take a picture), and then dinner in pittsford with more beautiful friends <3
i got my grant money! thank u huntington arts council for supporting long island artists and for today’s ceremony. thank u nysca for investing in arts & culture in the state of ny. and thank u to all the amazing artists/community organizers who were there today and who are working hard to make long island more inclusive and beautiful. pictures with patty, joan, shayee and ginger. btw my project, the short film ‘return to sender,’ is fully edited and ready for post production. premiere at cinema arts center on oct 1st inshallah.
So energizing to be part of the Artists Round Table today and talk about Hopeful Art & Artful Hope. The convo was moderated by the wonderful Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli and I learned so much about the work of amazing artists/activists like Michaela Oteri, TL Luke, Kristy Lisle, Kierston Ghaznavi, Yvette Pino, and Della Wells. From important struggles such as disability and reproductive rights, to representations of Black women in art and culture, to body types and using art to talk about politics, I felt like I was surrounded/sustained by artists using their art to challenge and enlighten.
The Women’s & Gender Studies Conference ‘Sustaining Hope: Feminisms, Freedom, and the Future’ is happening virtually for one last day tomorrow, April 15th.
It’s organized by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and held under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair on Gender, Wellbeing and a Culture of Peace as part of a global UN platform. It is free.
You can register here. And don’t forget to check out the artwork under ‘Artist Exhibition 2023.’
[Artwork by Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli]
I am super excited to be a part of the Women’s & Gender Studies Consortium ‘Sustaining Hope: Feminisms, Freedom, and the Future’ happening completely virtually, April 13-15. I will participate in the Artists’ Round Table on April 14th – starts at 3:30pm CTS (4:30pm EST).
This conference, organized by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and held under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair on Gender, Wellbeing and a Culture of Peace as part of a global UN platform, is free.
You can register here and you can look at the conference schedule here.
You can also check out at my artist page. Hope you can join us!
