Storytelling with saris

Artiste and social activist Monica Jahan Bose conducted an Art Talk titled Storytelling with Saris on February 15 at the Bengal Café in Dhanmondi. The event was organised by Bengal Foundation.

The US-based Bangladeshi artiste screened a short film of her own making, highlighting the influenceof climate change on rural women. The film delves into issues of women empowerment andfinancial independence and also explores the impact of climate change in this regard.

Storytelling with Saris is an art and social project at the same time. Monica Jahan Bose worked with rural women in the remote areas of Katakhali in Bhola, where she taught them to do block-printing on saris. The women turned the saris into artworks with messages of women empowerment. Later, the participations in the workshop performed songs and dance dressed in the saris they themselves made – all of which was captured beautifully in the film.

Monica’s project also features woodcarving, writing, printmaking, and video work. The women who were selected for the project have all survived major environmental disasters and have also learned to rebuild their lives with determination and the experience they had gathered. Monica Jahan Bose, also a lawyer, has been working with several nonprofits for almost 20 years. Her paintings have been displayed at exhibitions in the United States, France, Japan and India.