my talk at VSW

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.

Visual Studies Workshop: In Dialogue with Mara Ahmed

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

Feminists speak up

Out of the 1.9 million people displaced in Gaza, close to one million are girls and women. An estimated 9,000 Palestinian women have been killed by Israeli forces so far. That’s a rate of 63 women killed every day. There are an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with over 180 giving birth daily, without any anesthesia or meds or fully functional hospitals. An estimated 37 mothers are killed daily, leaving their families devastated and their children with diminished protection — at least 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip are unaccompanied or have been separated from their relatives since the beginning of the genocide on October 7th. There is no food or water and most of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed. A man-made famine is setting in. At least 20 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza. The time to speak up is now.

Wangechi Mutu’s work

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.

noma sculpture garden

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.

palestine solidarity in nola

yesterday brunch at satsuma cafe on dauphine street and a walk around the neighborhood where i found a beautiful palestinian flag. knocked at the door to thank the homeowner and met mark, a retired lawyer, who feels enraged by the genocide going on in gaza and wants to make his solidarity public. we talked for a while and he gave me his card: “u have a friend in new orleans now”

more nola

more nola – waited in line for 30-40 min for beignets from cafe du monde yesterday. walked all over the french quarter, easy access from franklin ave where we are based. bought some local art from an artists’ co-op and postcards at the french market. love the unapologetically vibrant colors here.

a trip to the kolaj institute

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!