Her Words: Storytelling with Saris

Acknowledgements This book and project would not have been possible without the support of a global team, including over 170 contributors from around the world. My deepest gratitude goes to all of you. I especially want to thank all the members of the Katakhali Cooperative, Mahmuda Lina for coordination in Bangladesh, translator Jahanara Hasan, Phil Davis of the Brentwood Arts Exchange, Margaret Boozer of Red Dirt Studio, book designer Mahmood Al Mahdi of the Dhaka Art Center, Storytelling with Saris intern Kerin Backhaus, John Paradiso of 39th Street Gallery, Enayetullah Khan of Cosmos Group, Rachel Breunlin of the Neighborhood Story Project, Nandita Ahmed, Leah Stoddard, Roksana Badruddoja, Matoara Islam, Joyeeta Anila, and my mother Noorjahan Bose. Thank you also to Jennifer McMahon, Michael Bennett, Jaseem Ahmed, and Bernard Welt for editorial help. Finally, many thanks to Syed Hasan Mahmud for his invaluable guidance on book design.

I am indebted to the generous sponsors of this book: Jaseem Ahmed (Malaysia), Dale and Julie Bennett (USA), Noorjahan Bose (Bangladesh), Janel Callon (Japan), Steven Escobar (USA), Liz Georges (USA), William and Linda Goldman (USA), Marius Meland (USA), Anika Rahman (USA), Jenifer Rogers (Hong Kong), Hidaya Tazi (Morocco), Samhati (USA), and Cosmos Group (Bangladesh).

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Dedication I dedicate this book to Jean Leiserson (1925-2012), a dear friend of my parents and a long-term supporter of Samhati and its work for impoverished women in Bangladesh.

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Table of Contents Her Words by Monica Jahan Bose Essay by Leah Stoddard Hawa Hasina Khuku Rani Nasima Noor Sehera Parveen Roxana Salma Shahida Shima Zakia Zulekha Essay by Roksana Bodruddoja Sari Photoshoot Singing and Dancing Studio Photos of Saris Works on Paper Samhati and the Katakhali Cooperative Excerpt from Agunmukhar Meye by Noorjahan Bose

9 29 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 66 69 73 79 86 93 101

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22 36 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 69 73 79 86 97 99

The twelve women of Storytelling with Saris.

Her Words: Storytelling with Saris Monica Jahan Bose Introduction Her Words: Storytelling with Saris is a collaborative printmaking, advocacy, and story project highlighting the achievement of literacy by women in the remote island community of Katakhali Village, Bangladesh. Katakhali is my ancestral village, located on Barobaishdia Island in Patuakhali District on the edge of the Bay of Bengal, an area severely impacted by climate change. Increased storms and cyclones have salinated the soil and reduced crop yield; warming seas have resulted in a drastic decrease in fish; and rising sea levels threaten to engulf the island along with all the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Katakhali is part of a women’s eco-empowerment program started by Samhati, a US-based non-profit group of BangladeshiAmerican women. My mother, Noorjahan Bose, born in Katakhali, founded Samhati in 1984, ten years after immigrating to the US. With my mother and the other members of Samhati, I have been engaged with the Katakhali program since 2000, working on fundraising and oversight of the program. Since then, despite the setback of numerous cyclones and other adverse impacts of climate change, the Katakhali program has resulted in incredible gains in literacy, health, and women’s autonomy.

cyclones and transformed their lives by not only rebuilding their homes but also learning to read.

The women are: Hawa (age 25), Zakia (age 40), Roxana (age 35), Nasima (age 35), Khuku Rani (age 35), Noor Sehera (age 34-37), Shima (age 23), Salma (age 30), Parveen (age 31), Hasina (age 45), Shahida (age 32), and Zulekha (age 35). (These ages are approximate because most of the women were not sure of their ages. All these women use the last name “Begum,” customary for women in the village. To avoid confusion, I have used their given names only.) In January 2013, I traveled with my mother and my two daughters to the island – a 28-hour journey by ferry, fishing boat, and foot – to start work on Storytelling with Saris with the Katakhali women. New York-based Bangladeshi filmmaker Nandita Ahmed came on the journey to help document the project. The project includes: conducting writing workshops for the women to write their own autobiographical stories, creating 24 large-scale (18-foot-long) woodblock prints on sari fabric using words and images, recording the women’s oral histories, taking their portrait photos, and documenting the project through photo and video. Each woman kept one sari to wear as a statement of her achievements, and the other 12 saris are exhibited around the world.

In Storytelling with Saris, I collaborate with 12 Katakhali women who have survived successive

It was a thrill to return to the island after 19 years (I 9

rights of women, especially in regards to education and our bodies. My grandmother, Johora Begum, lived and died in Katakhali. She was married at age seven and went to live with her husband’s family around age 13, with no chance to go to school or choose her own partner. In many parts of the globe, and certainly in South Asia, the rights of girls and women to education – and not to be forced into early marriage – have historically been denied and continue to be under attack. For poor women in low-lying countries, the effects of climate change cause further hardship.

had not been to the island since my grandmother’s funeral in 1993) and to finally meet in person the women of the Katakhali program. It was an intensive 10 days of bonding and working together.

These women taught me the technique of woodblock printing on fabric, helping me to expand my own printmaking into a larger format and also expressing their own empowerment. I interviewed each of the dozen women and visited all of their homes to see how they lived. My two daughters, Tuli (age 13) and Koli (age 8), were also immersed in the whole experience, along with my mother Noorjahan and my aunt Mahmuda Lina, who coordinates the Samhati program.

My grandmother learned to read and write at home and was determined that her daughters would have a better life. My mother, Noorjahan, was her firstborn and four more daughters were born before my grandmother had two sons. My grandJohora Begum mother insisted that each of her children made it through high school and refused to agree to their early marriage. My mother was the first girl from her village to finish high school. She eventually earned a Master’s degree. She left Katakhali at age 10 to live with various relatives because schools in Katakhali at that time went only up to 6th grade.

Although I never had the chance to know her well,

The project will expand with further writing in journals by the 12 women, sari printing, my performances and installations using the saris, a film about the project, a website and blog, and exhibitions, workshops, discussions, and events around the world. Storytelling with Saris presents the stories of an inspiring community that is impacted by climate change and expected to disappear unless drastic measures are taken by the world. The next stage of Storytelling with Saris will include community education on climate change and monitoring of sea-level rise so that informed decisions can be made on adaptation and/or relocation by the villagers of Katakhali.

My Roots and Inspiration I am a Bangladeshi-American artist, lawyer and activist whose work addresses ecology and the 10

my new prints. The idea for Storytelling with Saris grew out of that installation. I began to think about working with the women of Katakhali to do collaborative prints with words and images directly on saris.

my grandmother is a tremendous inspiration to me and to others in her village. She has appeared in several of my paintings, including in my Water series and my Mother Tongue series.

In my recent paintings, starting from my years in Paris (2006-2010), the sari and sari blouse appear as symbols for the female body, as self portraits, and as representations of women’s place in society. I also started using Bengali script as an affirmation of multilingualism and universal literacy. By 2009, I started incorporating collage with actual sari blouses and sari fabric. I have also created installations and performances using saris, including Indelible Scent, where I laid in bed reading books and poems written by women, texting from a cellphone, and chopping onions. The piece speaks to women’s autonomy in mind and body.

A group of women in Katakhali had recently taken a course on wood-block fabric printing, and all of them had learned to read from Samhati’s literacy classes. I spoke with my aunt, Mahmuda Lina, to discuss the possibility of a collaboration, and she and the women of the Katakhali cooperative were very enthusiastic about the prospect of working together. I began drawing images and words with ink onto tracing paper, so that they could be easily reversed and made into woodblocks. Her Words is a conscious merger of my artwork and advocacy and highlights these women’s achievements through collaborative printmaking, writing, and storytelling.

In 2010, I became interested in printmaking and took lessons from Indo-French artist Anju Chaudhuri in Paris. In the summer of 2011, I did a printmaking workshop with Anju Chaudhuri followed by an intensive printmaking residency at the Dhaka Art Center in Bangladesh. I started making a series of combination prints (using etching, mono print, and hand painting) that showed sari blouses flying away like birds as well as abstract shapes inspired by the topography of Katakhali, Barobaishdia Island and the maze of adjacent rivers and islands and “chars” (newly formed islands). In November 2011, I created an installation for “Open Studio” at Red Dirt Studio in Mt. Ranier, Maryland using saris, onions, and one of

In June 2012, I gave a talk on Her Words: Storytelling with Saris at the 39th Street Gallery in Brentwood, Maryland, where I described my concept for the project. The lively discussion there and at a subsequent event at my home studio led to many wonderful suggestions for how to structure the project and involve the other women as artists and collaborators. Since then, hundreds of people have been following my blog about the project and supporting it with ideas and funding, creating a true global collaboration. I left for Bangladesh in July 2012 to start the work.

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Summer 2012: Stage One

Ramadan and found a school building that we could use for practice printmaking. I was given a workshop on woodblock printing at a school in Mirpur, Dhaka. I created several “test” sari prints in collaboration with my aunt and cousins.

During the summer of 2012, I spent several weeks in Bangladesh learning about wood-block printing and having my drawings and words carved into woodblocks by artisans near the capital city of Dhaka. I researched and purchased inks, handloom cotton saris, handmade paper, and other supplies. I worked with my Aunt Lina to test the blocks and the saris. My aunt gave me my first lesson in woodblock printing in her apartment in Dhaka.

During that summer, I also visited sari handprinting centers and had two silk screens made and printed with my large drawings of sari blouses (which were too big for woodblocks). I used my sari woodblocks in combination with my etching blocks to make a series of combination prints on handmade Bangladeshi paper; a few were exhibited at the Dhaka Art Center along with my first sari print. I also gave a talk about my work and Her Words at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Hyderabad University in Hyderabad, India.

We spoke to the Katakhali women by phone to find out what words they were learning so that we could have blocks made with those words: Katakhali, water, rice, Darchira River. Due to monsoons and storms, I was unable to make the boat trip to Katakhali that summer. But my aunt and many of my cousins from Katakhali were in Dhaka for

The January 2013 Workshops in Katakhali

Woodblocks carved in Dhaka

Because winter is the best time to travel to and do work in Katakhali, I decided to go there in January 2013 with my mother and my daughters. Filmmaker Nandita Ahmed met me in Dhaka after flying from New York, and within hours of meeting we all set off together on January 18, 2013 for the long journey by local ferry, fishing boat, and foot to Katakhali Village. My aunt Mahmuda Lina was already there making preparations for our arrival.

After arriving in Katakhali on January 19, 2013, I met with the women of the Katakhali cooperative to tell them about myself, about Samhati’s work in Washington DC, and about my idea for Her Words: Storytelling with Saris. Twelve women were recruited 12

for Storytelling with Saris based on several factors – (1) they were women who had learned to read or improved their reading through the Samhati literacy classes; (2) they had survived cyclones and received help from Samhati; and (3) they had taken the cooperative’s woodblock printing workshop or were interested in learning woodblock printing. These women all survived cyclones SIDR and AILA by taking shelter in the health center built by Samhati.

Most lost their homes and all of them lost their animals, crops, and possessions. Samhati rebuilt the destroyed homes, deeding them to the female head of household. In addition, Samhati provided adult literacy and other classes to help these survivors rebuild their lives.

The sari printmaking workshops began on January 21, 2013 and resulted in the creation of 24 saris, using hand woodblock printing, painting, and writing. I collaborated with each woman to create

On January 20, 2013, I organized a writing workshop for the 12 women, who were encouraged to write whatever they could about themselves and to draw words and images with pencil, pen, and paint.

The women are at different levels of literacy, and some struggled to write about themselves (something they had perhaps never done before) while others wrote several pages. Their actual writing has been printed in this book. I wanted to show the women’s writing because it is an important political act. All over the world, females have historically been denied equal access to education.

Literacy is empowering, and it is important that these women can express their voices in writing and share their stories. The women were each given a journal, pen, pencil and sharpener to continue their writing after my departure. They have almost filled their journals, and are excited that new journals are on their way. I plan to exhibit and share these journals in the future.

The walk to Katakhali Foggy views from ferry

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Writing workshop

Writing workshop

Sari printing

two unique saris. We borrowed a table from the library so that several saris could be made simultaneously. Many of the women are trained in woodblock printing and taught me the proper techniques.

I urged them to add writing and painting and consider stamping the blocks in irregular patterns.

I brought with me dozens of woodblocks carved with images I had drawn, words the women have learned, and the Bangla alphabet. The Katakhali women contributed their own collection of woodblocks, their imagination, and hand written script to create a wide range of saris.

I met with each woman individually several times to learn about her life and her aspirations. In addition to my notes, these interviews were recorded on video and audio by Nandita Ahmed. Nandita remarked: “The women looked directly at the camera and were not shy. I was surprised that they were not self-conscious at all.� In the early mornings and evenings when the workshops were not in session, I visited the women’s homes to better understand their lives. During these visits, I was offered tea, coconut water, and their most prized food, fresh duck eggs. I was surprised to find that several of the women had solar power in their homes. Solar panels are produced locally and are purchased under a three-year payment plan.

Blocks & colors

Sari printing

The women of Katakhali impressed me greatly; there is much we can learn from them. They have dignity and courage and are benefitting from working together. The women walk many miles daily and generate almost no pollution or trash, using solar power and small oil lamps and subsisting principally on the food that they grow and the fish

they catch. They have consciously improved their lives and enjoy more freedom and education than their mothers. The 12 women of Her Words are all Muslim, although there are minorities in the adjacent villages. These women were born into large families, but on average they have only two children.

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Those with two girls and no boys said that they would educate their daughters and were not going to try to have a son. Although most of the women were married young (average age 15) and did not have the chance to go to school when they were girls, all of them are sending their children to school and hope that they will go to college. Each woman said that her most exciting achievement was learning to read and write and that she is eager to learn more. They are growing vegetables with the help of the cooperative and improving their families’ nutrition as well as selling some to supplement their income.

The women live peacefully and are leading productive lives. They waste very little and have almost no carbon footprint. They are empowered and have improved their community. It is a story of astonishing achievement in just one generation.

January 2013 was an intensive and joyous week of art making, writing and storytelling.

The women juggled the work for Her Words with their usual work of cooking, farming, taking care of children, as well the activities of the cooperative. Each woman was paid for her work. Many of the women’s husbands, older children, and in-laws helped with cooking and household duties so that the women could engage in the work for Her Words and the cooperative.

The week culminated with the women wearing the saris they created and taking group and portrait photos. The women really 18

enjoyed the fashion shoot – laughing and posing with delight. The final two evenings were spent singing and dancing while wearing the saris. My daughters and I were amazed by the rhythmic and exuberant dancing by the women of all ages, accompanied by folk songs about love and longing.

These songs are part of an oral tradition typically sung at weddings. I transcribed and translated four of the songs they sang. Interestingly, most of the songs refer to the sari.

Storytelling in the US After returning to the US, I gave several talks about the project in the DC area and New York. I held three workshops with children and teenagers (at the Oyster-Adams Bilingual School and for the Patricia Sitar Arts Center’s Emerging Art Leaders group), teaching them about the project and doing handson collaborative printmaking. In May 2013, Nandita and I ran a one-month Kickstarter campaign to raise money for this book and the film. We now have over 170 people funding this project from around the world, and over 700 people have seen our video about the project.

Sari text: “I want to work all day.”

Drying saris

In June 2013, I created Bus Stop Bangladesh, a public installation/performance using the saris in Mt. Rainier, Maryland, just outside of Washington DC, which was supported by Art Lives here with the National Endowment for the Arts. In September 2013, the exhibition Layer by Layer: Storytelling with Saris opens at the Brentwood Arts Exchange, Gateway Arts Center, in the Washington DC area, 19

and includes an installation of the saris with video projections onto and through the saris.

The triptych video depicts the process of making the saris, interviews of the Katakhali women, and other footage of the project. In September and October 2013, I will present the performances Sublime Virtue and Unwrapped at the Dumbo Arts Festival in New York and (e)merge art fair in Washington DC, using the other 12 saris that the women have been wearing since January.

The Intergenerational Connection This project has created a poignant intergenerational link from my grandmother, to my mother and aunt, to me, and to my two daughters. My daughters Tuli and Koli enjoyed their first visit to Katakhali enormously. It was incredible to have my mother Noorjahan there with us. It is her vision that has resulted in the huge changes in Katakhali, and it was important for me and my daughters to see it firsthand.

Tuli and Koli can speak and read Bangla and quickly made friends with the village children. They both enjoyed being part of the picnic lunch organized by their grandmother for all 200 children of the primary school. Tuli visited both the primary school and high school and roamed around the village and the riverbanks with her new friends. Tuli and Koli donated their toys to Samhati’s new pre-school and enjoyed 20

playing with the small children. They loved the vast open spaces and helped me document the geography of the area. Koli watched the Her Words workshops and helped by being the “boom” for filmmaker Nandita Ahmed. She also played with the local girls and the goats, cows, and other animals. Tuli and Koli both did some printmaking and journal writing.

Upon return to the US, Koli was very proud that I gave workshops about the project to her class. Tuli has been helping me with aspects of the Storytelling with Saris project, including assisting with the teen workshop and performing in the Bus Stop Bangladesh performance. My mother and aunt have been helping with logistics for this book. Both girls and my mother will work with me to provide Bangla writing workshops for children in connection with the September 2013 exhibition in DC.

Sari text: “Agunmukha River”

Writing on sari

*** In 2014, exhibitions, discussions, and a performance on Her Words: Storytelling with Saris will travel to Bangladesh. I envision Her Words continuing for many years as the stories of these women and the climate impacts on Barobaishdia Island and the entire coastal area of Bangladesh evolve.

In this book, I present these women’s stories of struggle, resilience, and empowerment through photos, writings, the saris, my prints, the interview summaries and the songs.

Washington DC August 9, 2013 21

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kvwoi g‡a¨ RxebMvu_vq Avwg 12 Rb bvixi mv‡_ KvR KiwQ, hviv evievi N~wY©S‡oi AvNvZ KvwU‡q D‡V ïay evwoNi cybwb©g©vY K‡i Zv‡`i Rxeb‡K iƒcvšÍi K‡ibwb, Zviv co‡Z I wjL‡ZI wk‡L‡Qb| GB bvixiv n‡”Qb: nvIqv (25), RvwKqv (40), †ivKmvbv (35), bvwmgv (35), cvifxb (31), byi †P‡niv (34), mxgv (23), LyKz ivbx (35), mvjgv (30), nvwmbv (45), kvwn`v 22

12 Rb bvixi mvÿvrKvi MÖnY Kwi Ges Zviv Kxfv‡e evm K‡i, Zv †`Lvi Rb¨ cÖ‡Z¨‡Ki evwo hvB| Avgvi `yB Kb¨v, Zzwj (13) I Kwj (8), gv byiRvnvb †evm Ges Avgvi Lvjv gvngy`v jxbv, whwb GB msnwZi cÖKí mgš^q Ki‡Qb, Avgiv mevB GB AwfÁZvq wbgMoe n‡qwQjvg|

Avgvi bvbx evwo‡Z †jLvcov wk‡L‡Qb Ges Zuvi Kb¨v‡`i my›`i Rxe‡bi Rb¨ e×cwiKi wQ‡jb| Avgvi bvwbi eo †g‡q b~iRvnvb Ges AviI PviwU Kb¨vmšÍv‡bi ci Zuvi `yB †Q‡ji Rb¥ nq| Zuvi cÖ‡Z¨KwU mšÍvb‡K D”Pgva¨wgK ¯‹zj ch©šÍ †jLvcov Kiv‡bvi `„p msKí wQj Ges wZwb Kb¨v‡`i evj¨weev‡n Am¤§wZ Rvwb‡qwQ‡jb| Avgvi gv IB Øx‡ci I cvk¦©eZ©x mKj Øxcv‡ji cÖ_g †g‡q, †h D”Pgva¨wgK wkÿv †kl K‡i| Ges c‡i wZwb gv÷vm© wWwMÖ AR©b K‡ib| gvÎ `k eQi eq‡m wZwb wb‡Ri evwo †Q‡o wewfboe MÖv‡g AvZ¥xq¯^R‡bi evwo‡Z evm K‡i ¯‹z‡j †h‡Zb| KviY, KvUvLvjxi ¯‹z‡j lô †kÖYxi ci Avi cov‡kvbvi e¨e¯’v wQj bv|

GB cÖKíwU A‡bKw`b a‡i Pj‡e: 12 Rb bvixi Av‡iv LvZvq †jLv, Av‡iv kvwo Qvcv, kvwo w`‡q Avgvi ¯’vcbv wkíKg© I Awfbq wkíKg©, cÖKíwU m¤ú‡K© GKwU Pjw”PÎ| I‡qemvBU I eøM, Ges cÖ`k©bx, Kg©kvjv I wek¦e¨vcx Abyôvbvw`| GBfv‡e GB cÖKíwUi e¨vwß AviI we¯Í…Z Ki‡e| Ôkvwoi g‡a¨ RxebMvu_vÕ Ggb GKwU A‡ji DÏxcbvgq m¤úª`v‡qi Kvwnbx, hv Rjevqy cwieZ©b-cÖwµqvq mgy‡`ª Zwj‡q hv‡e hw` mZ¡i K‡Vvi c`‡ÿc bv †bIqv nq| Ôkvwoi g‡a¨ RxebMvu_vÕi cieZ©x ch©v‡q GB m¤úª`vq‡K Rjevqy cwieZ©b m¤ú‡K© wkÿv †`Iqv n‡e Ges mvM‡ii D”PZv e„w×i Ici m`v RvMÖZ `„wó ivLvi e¨e¯’v Kiv n‡e, hv‡Z KvUvLvjxi MÖvgevmxiv Z_¨wfwËK wm×všÍ wb‡q cwiewZ©Z cwiw¯’wZ‡ZI wb‡R‡`i myiÿv Ki‡Z cv‡i ev wbivc` ¯’v‡b mwi‡q wb‡Z cv‡i|

Avgvi bvwb‡K Avgvi fv‡jvfv‡e Rvbvi my‡hvM nqwb| wKš‘ Avgvi bvbx Avgv‡K Ges MÖv‡gi Ab¨‡`iI `viæYfv‡e AbycÖvwYZ K‡i‡Qb| wZwb Avgvi †ek K‡qKwU wkíKg©, we‡kl K‡i Avgvi Ôcvwb RjÕ wmwiR Ges ÔgvZ…fvlvÕ wmwi‡R i‡q‡Qb| Avgvi c¨vwi‡m (2006-2010) AuvK‡Z ïiæ Kiv mv¤úªwZK Qwe¸‡jv‡Z kvwo Ges kvwo eøvDR bvix †`‡ni cÖZxK, wbR cÖwZwew¤^Z Qwe Ges mgv‡R bvix Ae¯’v‡bi cÖwZiƒc wn‡m‡e Dc¯’vwcZ n‡q‡Q| eû fvlv Ges mve©Rbxb mvÿiZv‡K ¯^xK…wZ Rvbvevi Rb¨ Avwg evsjv Aÿi e¨envi Ki‡Z ïiæ K‡iwQjvg| 2009 mvj †_‡K Avwg Avmj kvwo eøvDR Ges kvwoi Kvco Avgvi Qwe‡Z †KvjvR wn‡m‡e ¯’vcb Kwi| Avwg kvwo e¨envi K‡i ¯’vcbvwkí (Bb÷‡jkb) Ges Awfbqwkí (cvidig¨vÝ AvU©) ˆZwi K‡iwQ| Avgvi wkíKg© ÔB‡›`wj‡ej †m›UÕ (AdzišÍ NªvY) Ges Avwg weQvbvq ï‡q bvix‡`i †jLv KweZv I eB c‡owQjvg, gy‡Vv‡dv‡b `k©K‡`i m‡½ evZ©v wewbgq K‡iwQjvg, Ges †cuqvR KvUwQjvg| GB wkíKg©wU bvixi gb I kix‡ii ¯^vaxbZvi K_v e‡j|

Avgvi wkKo Ges Avgvi †cÖiYv Avwg GKRb evsjv‡`wk-Av‡gwiKvb wkíx, AvBbRxex Ges mwµq Kg©x| Avgvi KvR cwi‡ek I bvix AwaKvi wb‡q, we‡kl K‡i bvix wkÿv I kix‡ii Dci Zvi AwaKvi wb‡q| Avgvi bvwb †Rvniv †eMg KvUvLvjx‡Z mviv Rxeb KvwU‡q‡Qb Ges GLv‡bB gviv †M‡Qb| Zuvi mvZ eQi eq‡m we‡q nq Ges 13 eQi eq‡m msmvi Ki‡Z ¯^vgxi cwiev‡i Av‡mb| ¯‹z‡j coevi ev wb‡Ri Rxebm½x cQ›` Kivi †Kv‡bv my‡hvMB Zuvi wQj bv| we‡k¦i bvbv A‡j Ges wbwðZfv‡e `wÿY Gwkqvq evwjKv I bvix‡`i wkÿvi AwaKvi Ges evj¨weevn bv Kivi AwaKvi HwZnvwmKfv‡e A¯^xKvi Kiv n‡q‡Q Ges GL‡bv ‡g‡qiv GB AwaKvi †_‡K ewÂZ n‡”Q| Rjevqy cwieZ©‡bi cÖfv‡e wbPz A‡ji `wi`ª bvix Awaevmxiv AviI †ewk `y`©kvi m¤§yLxb n‡q _v‡K|

2010 mv‡j Avwg Qvcvi Kv‡Ri cÖwZ AvK…ó nB Ges fviZxq divwm wkíx AÄy †PŠayixi KvQ †_‡K cÖwkÿY wb‡qwQjvg| 2011 mv‡ji MÖx®§Kv‡j Avwg AÄy †PŠayixi m‡½ GKwU Qvc ˆZwi Kg©kvjvq †hvM w`‡qwQjvg Ges Gi c‡iB Avwg evsjv‡`‡ki XvKv

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AvU© †m›Uv‡ii wKewiqv wcÖ›U‡gwKs ÷zwWI‡Z Qvcvi Kv‡R wbweofv‡e wkÿvbwewk Kwi| Avwg GKwU wgkÖ Qvcvi wmwi‡Ri KvR ïiæ Kwi (GLv‡b Avwg GwPs, GKK Qvc I nv‡Z is Kiv A¼b e¨envi Kwi)| G‡Z †`Lv hvq kvwoi eøvDR cvwLi gZ D‡o hv‡”Q, eoevBkw`qv Øx‡ci KvUvLvjx Ges msjMoe b`x¸‡jv, Øxc¸‡jv Ges Pi¸‡jvi gZ AvKvi| 2011 mv‡ji b‡f¤^i gv‡m Avwg †gwij¨v‡Ûi gvD›U †iBbv‡i Aew¯’Z †iW WvU© ÷zwWIi Db¥y³ ÷zwWI‡Z GKwU ¯’vcbvwkí (Bb÷‡jkb) wbg©vY Kwi| GLv‡b Avwg kvwo, †cuqvR Ges Avgvi GKwU bZzb Qvcvi wkíKg© e¨envi K‡iwQjvg| Ôkvwoi g‡a¨ RxebMvu_vÕi wPšÍv GB ¯’vcbvwkí (Bb÷‡jkb) †_‡KB M‡o I‡V| Avwg KvUvLvjxi bvix‡`i wb‡q mw¤§wjZfv‡e k㸔Q Ges fveg~jK AvK…wZ¸‡jv mivmwifv‡e kvwoi Ici Qvcv‡bvi K_v wPšÍv Ki‡Z ïiæ Kijvg|

Aby`vb w`‡q GKwU mwZ¨Kvi wek¦mn‡hvwMZvi m~Pbv K‡i| 2012 mv‡ji RyjvB gv‡m Avwg GB KvR ïiæ Kivi D‡Ï‡k¨ evsjv‡`‡k hvB| MÖx®§Kvj 2012: cÖ_g ch©vq 2012 mv‡ji MÖx®§Kv‡j Avwg evsjv‡`‡k K‡qK mßvn a‡i Kv‡Vi eøK Qvcvi KvR wkwL Ges Avgvi AuvKv Qwe I k㸇jv ivRavbx XvKvi wbKU¯’ KvV‡Lv`vB wkíx‡`i w`‡q Kv‡Vi eø‡K †Lv`vB KivB| Avwg AbymÜvb K‡i Kvwj, Zuv‡Zi mywZi kvwo, nv‡Z ˆZwi KvMR Ges Ab¨vb¨ miÄvg wK‡bwQjvg| XvKvq Avgvi Lvjvi m‡½ Avwg GB eøK I kvwo cixÿvi KvR K‡iwQjvg| Avgvi Lvjvi XvKvi evmvq wZwb Avgv‡K Kv‡Vi eøK gy`ªY †kLvi cÖ_g cvV †`b|

m¤úªwZ KvUvLvjx cÖK‡íi †g‡q‡`i GKwU `j Kvc‡oi Ici Kv‡Vi eøK Qvcvi cÖwkÿY jvf K‡i| Giv mevB msnwZi mvÿiZv K¬v‡m AskMÖnY K‡i wjL‡Z I co‡Z wk‡LwQj| Avwg Avgvi Lvjv gvngy`v jxbvi m‡½ GB †g‡q‡`i mn‡hvwMZvq KvR Kivi wel‡q K_v ewj Ges wZwb I KvUvLvjxi mgev‡qi †g‡qiv Avgvi m‡½ GK‡Î Kv‡Ri m¤¢vebvq AZ¨šÍ Drmvnx n‡q I‡V| Avwg Qwei AvK…wZ I k㸇jv †Uªwms KvM‡R Kvwj w`‡q AuvK‡Z ïiæ Kijvg, hv‡Z †m¸‡jv mn‡RB Dwë‡q Kv‡Vi eøK ˆZwi Kiv hvq| bvixi K_v cÖK‡í Avwg m‡PZbfv‡eB Avgvi wkíKg© I bvix wel‡q ZrcikxjZv‡K mshy³ K‡iwQ Ges †hŠ_ Qvcvi KvR, nv‡Zi †jLv Ges RxebKvwnbx ejvi ga¨ w`‡q GB bvix‡`i mvdj¨ Zz‡j a‡iwQ|

KvUvLvjxi †g‡qiv †h k㸇jv wk‡L‡Q, Zv Rvbvi Rb¨ I‡`i m‡½ †Uwj‡dv‡b K_v ewj, hv‡Z IB k㸇jv w`‡q Kv‡Vi eøK ˆZwi Ki‡Z cvwi| Zv‡`i †kLv k㸇jv wQj: KvUvLvjx, cvwb, avb, `viwPiv b`x, BZ¨vw`| †mB MÖx‡®§ el©v Ges Soev`‡ji ZxeªZvi Rb¨ Avgiv †bŠKv‡hv‡M KvUvLvjx †h‡Z cvijvg bv| wKš‘ Avgvi Lvjv I KvUvLvjxi K‡qKRb fvB‡evb (Lvjv‡Zv) hviv igRv‡bi Rb¨ XvKvq G‡mwQj Avgiv GKwU ¯‹zj fe‡bi †LuvR †cjvg, †hLv‡b Avgiv Qvcgy`ª‡Yi KvR Abykxjb Ki‡Z cvwi| XvKvi wgicyi GjvKvq GKwU ¯‹z‡j Avgvi fvB‡evb I Lvjvi mn‡hvwMZvq Avwg K‡qKwU cixÿvg~jK Qv‡ci kvwo ˆZwi K‡iwQjvg|

2012 mv‡j †eª›UDW †gwij¨v‡Ûi 39 w÷ªU M¨vjvwi‡Z Avwg Ôbvixi K_vÕ cÖKíwUi Ici e³…Zv Kwi| †mLv‡b Avwg GB cÖKí m¤ú‡K© Avgvi aviYv eY©bv Kwi| ILvbKvi cÖvYešÍ Av‡jvPbv Ges cieZ©x mg‡q Avgvi evwoi ÷zwWI‡Z K‡qKwU Abyôvb †_‡K Avwg GB cÖK‡íi KvVv‡gv `uvo Kiv‡bv Ges Ab¨vb¨ bvix‡K wkíx I mn‡hvMx wn‡m‡e RwoZ Kivi e¨vcv‡i A‡bK my›`i civgk© †c‡qwQjvg| Zvi ci †_‡K kZ kZ †jvK Avgvi GB cÖKí-m¤úwK©Z eøM AbymiY K‡i Ges Zv‡`i fvebv I Avw_©K

†mB MÖx‡®§ Avwg K‡qKwU nv‡Z Qvcv‡bv kvwo †K›`ª †`L‡Z wM‡qwQjvg Ges `ywU wmé w¯¿b ˆZwi Kivjvg, hvi g‡a¨ Avgvi AuvKv kvwo eøvDR wPÎ `ywU gy`ªY Kijvg (GB wPÎ `ywU A‡bK eo wQj, hvi Rb¨ Kv‡Vi eøK ˆZwi Kiv m¤¢e wQj bv)| Avgvi kvwoi eøK Ges Avgvi GwPs (avZzZÿb) GKÎ K‡i evsjv‡`‡ki nv‡Z ˆZwi KvM‡Ri Ici GKwU avivevwnK wkíKg© ˆZwi K‡iwQjvg| Gi K‡qKwU Ges Avgvi cÖ_g Qvcv kvwo XvKv AvU© †m›Uv‡ii

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M¨vjvix‡Z cÖ`wk©Z n‡qwQj| GB mg‡q fvi‡Zi nvq`ivev` wek¦we`¨vj‡qi wkíKjv wefv‡M Avgvi wkíKg© Ges Ôbvixi K_vÕ m¤ú‡K©I e³…Zv w`‡qwQjvg|

m¤^‡Ü hv cv‡i ZvB wjL‡Z Ges Kjg, †cwÝj, is w`‡q kã I Qwe AuvK‡Z Zv‡`i DrmvwnZ K‡iwQjvg| bvixiv wkÿvi wewfboe ch©v‡q wQj Ges K‡qKRb wb‡R‡`i m¤ú‡K© †jLvi Rb¨ KwVb †Póv K‡i‡Q (m¤¢eZ Zviv G KvR KL‡bv K‡iwb) Avevi Ab¨iv K‡qK c„ôv wj‡L‡Q| Zv‡`i Avmj †jLv¸‡jv GB eB‡Z Qvcv‡bv n‡q‡Q| Avwg †g‡q‡`i †jLv¸‡jv †`Lv‡Z †P‡qwQ| KviY, GUv GKUv ¸iæZ¡c~Y© ivR‰bwZK KvR| wek¦e¨vcx HwZnvwmKfv‡e bvix‡`i wkÿv jv‡fi mgvb my‡hvM †_‡K ewÂZ Kiv n‡q‡Q| wkÿv ÿgZvqb K‡i, Ges GUv AZ¨šÍ ¸iæZ¡c~Y© †h GB bvixiv Zv‡`i gZvgZ †jLvi gva¨‡g cÖKvk Ki‡Z cv‡i Ges Zv‡`i K_v mevB †`L‡Z cv‡i| G‡`i cÖ‡Z¨K‡K GKwU K‡i LvZv, Kjg, †cwÝj I †cwÝj KvUvi hš¿ †`qv n‡qwQj, hv‡Z Avwg P‡j hvIqvi ciI Zviv †jLvi KvR Pvwj‡q †h‡Z cv‡i| Zv‡`i LvZv¸‡jv Zviv †kl K‡i †d‡j‡Q Ges bZzb LvZv Avm‡Q †R‡b Zviv LyeB Avbw›`Z| Avwg fwel¨‡Z GBLvZv¸‡jvi cÖ`k©bx Ges mevi m‡½ Dc‡fvM Kivi cwiKíbv K‡iwQ|

2013 mv‡ji Rvbyqvwi gv‡m KvUvLvjx Kg©kvjv KvUvLvjx‡Z hvÎv Ges KvR Kivi Rb¨ kxZKvjB me‡P‡q fv‡jv mgq| GB Rb¨ Avwg, Avgvi gv I Kb¨v‡`i wb‡q 2013 mv‡ji Rvbyqvwi‡Z KvUvLvjx hvIqvi wm×všÍ wbB| Pjw”PÎwbg©vZv bw›`Zv wbDBqK© †_‡K XvKvq †cuŠQv‡bvi ci Avgvi m‡½ mvÿv‡Zi K‡qK NÈvi g‡a¨B Avgiv mevB 2013 mv‡ji 18 Rvbyqvwi ¯’vbxq †dwi, gvQ aiv †bŠKv Ges c`eª‡R KvUvLvjxi MÖv‡gi Awfgy‡L iIbv njvg| Avgvi Lvjv jxbv †mLv‡bB wQ‡jb Ges Avgv‡`i Rb¨ me iKg cÖ¯‘wZ wb‡qwQ‡jb| 2013 mv‡ji 19 Rvbyqvwi Avwg KvUvLvjx †cuŠQvB| Avwg KvUvLvjx mgev‡qi †g‡q‡`i m‡½ †`Lv K‡i Zv‡`i Avgvi m¤ú‡K©, IqvwksUb wWwm msnwZi KvR m¤ú‡K© Ges Ôbvixi K_v: kvwoi g‡a¨ RxebMvu_vÕ cÖKíwUi e¨vcv‡i Avgvi aviYvi wel‡q Rvbvjvg| 12 Rb bvix‡K K‡qKwU wel‡qi wfwˇZ wbe©vwPZ Kiv nq: 1. IB bvixiv msnwZi mvÿiZv K¬v‡m wM‡q †jLvcov wk‡L‡Q A_ev Zv‡`i covi gvb e„w× Kivi Rb¨ K¬vm wb‡q‡Q| 2. Zviv N~wY©S‡oi AvNvZ KvwU‡q D‡V‡Q Ges msnwZi mvnvh¨ MÖnY K‡i‡Q| 3. Zviv mgev‡qi Kv‡Vi eøK gy`ªY Kg©kvjvq AskMÖnY K‡i‡Q A_ev Kv‡Vi eøK gy`ªY wkL‡Z AvMÖnx| GB bvixiv mevB N~wY©So wmWi I AvBjv †_‡K iÿv †c‡q‡Q| KviY, Zviv msnwZ wbwg©Z ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq wb‡qwQj| A‡b‡KB Zv‡`i evwo nvwi‡qwQj Ges G‡`i mevB Zv‡`i cvwjZ cï, km¨ Ges wb‡R‡`i welq mvgMÖx nvwi‡qwQj| msnwZ weaŸ¯Í evwo¸‡jv cybwb©g©vY K‡i evwoi bvixcÖav‡bi bv‡g `wjj K‡i w`‡q‡Q| Dciš‘ msnwZ mvÿiZv K¬vm Ges Ab¨vb¨ wel‡q cÖwkÿ‡Yi e¨e¯’v K‡i Zv‡`i Rxeb cybM©V‡b mvnvh¨ K‡i‡Q|

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K¨v‡givi w`‡K ZvKvw”Qj Ges Zviv GKUzI j¾v cvw”Qj bv| Avwg AevK njvg, †KDB AvZ¥m‡PZb nqwb|Õ †fvi‡ejvq I mܨvq A_©vr Kg©kvjv eÜKvjxb Ae¯’vq Avwg GB bvix‡`i Rxebaviv m¤ú‡K© AviI fv‡jvfv‡e Rvbvi Rb¨ Zv‡`i evwo‡Z †MwQ| Avgv‡K Zviv Pv, Wv‡ei cvwb Ges Zv‡`i me‡P‡q g~j¨evb Lvevi ZvRv nuv‡mi wWg †L‡Z w`‡qwQj| †ek K‡qKR‡bi evwo‡Z †mŠievwZ †`‡L Avwg wew¯§Z n‡qwQ| GB †mŠikw³i c¨v‡bj ¯’vbxqfv‡e ˆZwi Kiv nq Ges wZb eQ‡i cwi‡kva‡hvM¨ e¨e¯’vq wewµ nq|

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bvixiv wb‡Ri ˆZwi kvwo c‡i `‡ji m‡½ Qwe DwV‡q Ges cÖ‡Z¨‡Ki GKK Qwe †Zvjvi ga¨ w`‡q mßvnwU †kl nq| bvixiv GB d¨vk‡bi Qwe †Zvjvi AskwU LyeB Dc‡fvM K‡i‡Q| †k‡li `yB w`‡bi mܨvq Zviv kvwo c‡i bvP-Mv‡bi ga¨ w`‡q Avb›` K‡i KvUvq| me eq‡mi bvix‡`i fv‡jvevmv I †cÖ‡gi cwjøMxwZi m‡½ Q›`gq bvP †`‡L Avwg I Avgvi †g‡qiv PgrK…Z n‡qwQ| GB Mvb¸‡jv mbvZb we‡qi Mv‡bi Ask Ges gy‡L gy‡L cÖPwjZ| Avwg GB Mvb¸‡jv wj‡LwQjvg Ges PviwU Mvb Bs‡iwR‡Z Abyev` K‡iwQ| AvKl©Yxq NUbv n‡jv GB †h cÖvq me KwU MvbB kvwo m¤úwK©Z| hy³iv‡óª ÔRxebMvu_vÕ hy³iv‡óª wd‡i G‡m Avwg IqvwksUb wWwm GjvKv Ges wbDBq‡K© GB cÖKí m¤ú‡K© K‡qKwU e³…Zv w`‡qwQjvg| Avwg wkï I wK‡kvi-wK‡kvix‡`i Rb¨ (A‡q÷vi GWvgm evBwjs¸qvj ¯‹zj Ges c¨vwUªwmqv wmZvi AvU©m †m›UviÕm wUb AvU© wjWvim MÖæc) wZbwU Kg©kvjvi e¨e¯’v Kwi Ges †mLv‡b Avwg GB cÖKíwU m¤ú‡K© Ges nv‡Z-Kj‡g mn‡hvwMZvwfwËK Qvc gy`ª‡Yi KvR wkwL‡qwQjvg| 2013 mv‡ji †g gv‡m Avwg I bw›`Zv GB eB Ges Pjw”P‡Îi Rb¨ GK gv‡mi wKK÷viUvi Znwej msMÖn Awfhvb PvjvB| GLb ch©šÍ we‡k¦i me RvqMv †_‡K 170 Rb

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GB cÖK‡í A_©vqb K‡i‡Q Ges 700 Rb Avgv‡`i cÖK‡íi wfwWI †`‡L‡Q|

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On the way to Katakhali

Monica Jahan Bose and Her Words: Stories, Saris, and the Union of Art and Advocacy Leah Stoddard denial of women’s bodies and sexuality across cultures, and in paintings that featured sari blouses as stand-ins for the artist and female oppression.

Most social issue art is about impact and message.

Such “call-to-action” work has two purposes: to capture the attention and rally for a cause. It is seldom about beauty and aesthetics.

Parallel to her artistic life, Bose has advocated for the rights of poor women and their families in her homeland while working with Samhati, a US-based nonprofit of Bangladeshi-American women her mother founded in 1984. A self-proclaimed feminist who moved to the United States at the age of 10, Bose has been involved with women’s organizations in the South Asia diaspora as both a lawyer and organizer, focusing on violence against women, immigrant rights, and literacy. She is also determined to raise awareness about climate change on behalf of a part of the world plagued by cyclones and rising water levels.

But in the end, how effective is that? Slogans can close minds or fade from them, failing to achieve long-term awareness. Effective advocacy art must endure, draw one in, persist, and thereby inspire a deeply impassioned commitment for change.

This is part of what makes Bangladeshi-American artist Monica Jahan Bose’s new collaborative project Her Words: Storytelling with Saris so compelling. It is a series of evolving actions that infiltrate and engage the public on many levels of social activism. It is also visually poetic.

Her Words is a turning point in Bose’s career: a multiyear project that deftly weaves together her identities as both artist and social activist. It is ambitious and expansive, existing not only as an installation in a gallery but as a multimedia experience involving film, photography, spoken word, writing, publications, printmaking, performance, and sculpture, as well as workshops and talks.

Ever since she put paint to canvas in the mid-1980s, Bose has celebrated the body, vibrant color, and an expressionistic style of defiant energy, never shying away from provocative content. Past series have focused on Bangladeshi independence, the Bengali Language Movement, and multilingualism (Mother Tongue, 2007-09) and the cyclone-ravaged identity of a nation divided by language and religion (Water Paintings, 2008-10). Direct feminist symbolism emerged a few years ago in a group of mixed-media works on paper (Estrogen, 2011) that explored the

Rooted in the activist art “Happenings” of the 1960s, the project is also linked to relational art of 29

Indelible Scent (Performance Still No. 1), 2012, photo credit: Siobhan Rigg.

the 1990s and participatory art of the present day that balances aesthetics with social issues, such as Marina Abramović’s The Artist is Present (2010) or works by dissident Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei (e.g., The Sunflower Seeds, 2010).

Her Words comes out of direct experience—Bose’s journeys to and involvement with her ancestral village of Katakhali on the remote island of Barobaishdia. With the warming of the planet, which Bose notes is a consequence of overconsumption by richer countries, this island may soon disappear beneath the waters of the Bay of Bengal.

Bose’s passionate environmentalism stems from her direct connection to this community.

The project also evolved out of Bose’s desire to make a more collaborative/activist art. After the success of her interactive performance/installation Indelible Scent in Washington DC, and at Miami’s Art Asia (2012), in which the artist exchanged texts with audience members while she read banned books in a bed veiled with pink saris, Bose decided to collaborate with 12 Bangladeshi women through Samhati. Bose was inspired by their stories: how they survived cyclones and learned to read and write, rebuilding their lives despite great physical hardship and discrimination.

Agunmukha (Mouth of Fire), 2013, burnt sari and stones, installation at Smith Center for the Healing Arts, Washington DC. 31

Bus Stop Bangladesh: a performance/installation, 2013, Mt. Ranier, Maryland, Photo credit: Evan Wilder (left), Neena Narayanan (middle & right).

The common artistic thread that unites Bose with the women of Katakhali is printmaking. The artist had worked before with etching and monoprints, and saw in the women a chance to learn traditional woodblock printing techniques while encouraging them to explore personal imagery in their own art.

These prints and their stories and portraits would be shared with the world, presented in galleries both in the US and Bangladesh.

What resulted from the joint sessions was true collaboration through art making and oral histories, all captured on film by Bangladeshi filmmaker Nandita Ahmed to become a part of the Her Words installation. The women opened up to Bose and the camera, recounting stories of their lives, gaining trust with the artist with every conversation. Each of the final 24 block prints on saris (12 exhibited, 12 worn by the women to symbolize their achievements) is an intimate sharing between Bose and each individual woman. Bose’s involvement varied depending on the personality of her partner, where some led the process and others asked Bose to be more involved with artistic decisions.

Water 21 (Swept Away), 2010, acrylic, newspaper, and sari blouse on linen, 38 x 51 inches.

Estrogen 10, 2011, graphite, ink, watercolor, newspaper, and cut sari on watercolor paper, 18 x 24 inches.

Actual sari cloth has been at the core of Bose’s art in recent work, first as collaged cut pieces veiling nudes, then as gathered clumps of cloth (sometimes burned) on the floor or suspended as environments or site-specific sculptures [Sari Stupa at the Embassy of Bangladesh, Sari Cloud at Red Dirt Open Studio, and Agunmukha (Fire Mouth) at Smith Center]. When no longer wrapping a woman’s body, a strip of sari fabric suggests sexual liberation and empowerment, made more potent by colors associated with the 34

Leah Stoddard has curated over 100 exhibitions, including 10 large-scale projects for the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia, USA, where she was both the Director of Exhibitions (2012-13) and the Adjunct Curator of Contemporary Art (2011-present). In addition, she has also served as Director of Second Street Gallery, a nonprofit artspace in Charlottesville, Virginia (2000-08), and continues to work as an independent curator and artist advisor. Stoddard has an MA in art history/criticism from State University of New York, Stony Brook, and a BA in art history from Carleton College.

stages of a Bangladeshi woman’s life: reds and pinks symbolizing fertility, white purity/widowhood, and black, sorrow. In Her Words, the saris are hanging banners patterned with images of eyes, waves, onions, flowers, and abstract forms, along with words in Bengali script mined from the women’s journals. The multiple textile panels are as they were when they were drying in the sun on the island, with filmed images of the women projected onto their surfaces and the sound of their voices filling the room. Explains Bose: “I want the audience to be arrested by the unexpected —immersed in a whole environment of undulating saris, with the fabric activated by Nandita’s film images. Then, I want the audience to explore the work on a deeper level, discovering other layers of meaning.”

Offshoots of this project are a series of ongoing public actions, demos, lectures, and panel discussions. Recently, Bose performed Bus Stop Bangladesh (2013), an urban intervention where she took on the personas of the Katakhali women, recounting their stories in the first person to passers by and strangers waiting for their buses. The 18-foot-long saris were hung off a building—sensual pink fabric flowing over stone and brick like a defiant feminine force in the face of adversity.

In the end, an artist working with a community can serve as an effective catalyst, activating collaborators and inspiring awareness that can lead to lasting social change. Art and advocacy operate hand-inhand in Her Words, creating a profound and beautiful experience that persists long after leaving the gallery space.

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K‡i‡Q, hv M¨vjvwi cwimi †Q‡o hvIqvi ciI `k©K‡`i AšÍ‡i ¯’vqx n‡q _vK‡e|

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Layer by layer: Storytelling with Saris, 2013, installation shot from Brentwood Arts Exchange, Brentwood, MD, Photo credit: Margaret Boozer (opposite page), Monica Jahan Bose (above).

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nvIqv Hawa

Hawa lives in Katakhali Village, Barobaishdia Island, Patuakhali, Bangladesh. She was born in Rangabali Village (in the neighboring island) to a family of eight children, four boys and four girls.

She is not sure about her age but was probably born around 1989. Neither Hawa nor her siblings had the opportunity to go to school; they worked for other people from a young age. Her family did not have any land so they had to farm other people’s land and work for others to survive. She was married at age 10 or 11 and has two children, a girl aged ten and a boy aged six, both of whom go to school.

Hawa survived cyclones SIDR and AILA in 2007 and 2009 by taking shelter in the Health Clinic built

by Samhati. She is a member of the Katakhali cooperative, funded by Samhati. She has been taking literacy classes at the cooperative and first learned to read there. She has also learned vegetable and fruit gardening from the cooperative. She has ten papaya plants and four cows. Her husband has a small shop selling tea, biscuits, sugar and other sundry items; it is one of only two shops in the village. Hawa is very proud that she is learning to read and write.

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nvwmbv Hasina

Hasina was born in Khepupara Village (on the mainland just west of Barobaishdia Island) in approximately 1968 to a family of 11 children. Her father had two wives. Her father died when she was in fourth grade and she stopped going to school at that point. She got married when she was 25 years old and moved to Katakhali Village. Hasina does not have any children. She almost died from childbirth in 2007; she required a caesarian, which is not available in the village. The Samhati cooperative coordinator, Mahmuda Lina, took her to the nearest hospital (several hours away on the mainland), and they were able to save Hasina but not her baby.

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During cyclone SIDR and AILA, Hasina took shelter in the Health Center. She lost her house, her sheep and her goats to SIDR. Samhati built her a new home, which was deeded to her. She joined the cooperative and started taking literacy classes and learning farming. She had not learned to read at school but is now able to read. She is very happy that she can read and write. She has a huge garden and is growing rice, beans, sweet potato, bananas, sugarcane, and red spinach. She sells whatever they cannot eat. Hasina loves being part of the cooperative and eagerly comes every day to join the classes and enjoy the company of her friends.

wmWi I AvBjvi mgq nvwmbv ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq †bb| S‡o Zvi Ni, †fov, QvMj meB nvivb| msnwZ Zv‡K bZzb evwo ˆZix K‡i Zvi bv‡g `wjj K‡i w`‡q‡Q| wZwb mgevq mwgwZ‡Z †hvM †`evi 42

LyKz ivbx Khuku Rani

fv‡jv e¨envi K‡ib wkï‡`i †`Lvïbv K‡ib Ges LyKz mgevq mwgwZ‡Z †hvM w`‡q KvRKg© Kivq wZwb Lye Lywk| wmW‡ii c‡i msnwZ LyKz ivbx‡K bZzb Ni ˆZwi K‡i †`q| eq¯‹ wkÿv‡K‡›`ª wM‡q wZwb wjL‡Z I co‡Z wk‡L‡Qb| wZwb Lye Mwe©Z, KviY bvg ¯^vÿi Ki‡Z cv‡ib| K…wlKvR I †mjvB‡qi cÖwkÿYI wb‡q‡Qb| wZwb Avjy, Wvj I mewR Pvl K‡ib| nuvm-gyiwMI cvjb K‡ib| mgevq mwgwZwU ¯’vbxq †bZ…Z¡ cwiPvjbvq _vKvq wZwb Avbw›`Z| Khuku Rani was born in Modhukhali Village, Barobaishdia Island in approximately 1978. She works full time as a staff-member of the cooperative and takes care of the grounds and the housekeeping. She was one of two children and never went to school. She got married around age 15 and has three children: Komela (a girl, age 20), Ujjal (boy, 5th grade, age 13), and Hasan (boy, 2nd grade, age 11). Her daughter Komela studied up to grade 5, got married at age 15, and has a two year old child. Khuku’s husband is much older (around age 50 or 60); she says he treats her well and is happy that she is active with the cooperative. He takes care of the household and kids when she is working at the cooperative.

AvbygvwbK 1978 mv‡j eo evBkw`qv Øx‡ci gayLvjx MÖv‡g LyKz ivbxi Rb¥| wZwb mgev‡qi Kg©Pvix wn‡m‡e wb‡qvwRZ Av‡Qb Ges †K‡›`ªi iÿYv‡eÿ‡Yi KvR K‡ib| evev-gv‡qi `yB mšÍv‡bi wZwb GKRb Ges KL‡bv wZwb ¯‹z‡j hvbwb| AvbygvwbK 15 eQi eq‡m Zvi we‡q nq| Zvi wZb †Q‡j‡g‡q| †g‡q K‡gjvi eqm 20| 13 eQ‡ii †Q‡j D¾¡j cÂg †kÖYxi QvÎ Avi 11 eQ‡ii †Q‡j nvmvb wØZxq †kÖYx‡Z c‡o|

Khuku lost her home, her cow, and her goat during cyclone SIDR. She had already been a part of the cooperative for many years. She received a new home from Samhati after SIDR. Khuku has learned how to read and write from the literacy classes. She is very proud that she can sign her name. She has also received training in farming and embroidery.

She grows potatoes, beans, and vegetables. She also raises chickens and ducks. She is pleased that the cooperative is now being run by local leadership.

wmW‡i LyKz Zvi evwo I Miæ-QvMj meB nvwi‡qwQ‡jb| wZwb mgev‡qi m‡½ A‡bK w`b a‡i RwoZ| Zvi †g‡q K‡gjv cÂg †kÖYx ch©šÍ cov‡kvbv K‡i‡Q| 15 eQi eq‡m Zvi we‡q nq Ges Zvi `yB eQi eq‡mi GKwU †Q‡j Av‡Q| LyKzi ¯^vgxi eqm cÖvq 60 eQi n‡e| Zvi ¯^vgx Zvi m‡½ 44

bvwmgv Nasima

co‡Z †ek fv‡jvev‡mb| Zvi gv I AvZ¥xq¯^R‡bi Kv‡Q wPwV †j‡Lb| Zvi gvI co‡Z cv‡ib| wZwb GKwU †mjvB‡qi †gwkb wK‡b‡Qb Ges `iwRi KvR K‡i wKQz DcvR©b K‡ib| Zvi evwo b`xi av‡i| Zv‡`i †QvU GKwU †ÿZ Av‡Q Ges wKQz avb, KuvPv gwiP, †e¸b I jvD‡qi Pvl K‡ib| bvwmgv Lye nvwmLywk Ges Drmvn wb‡q bvP‡ZI cv‡ib|

Nasima was born in Golachipa in approximately 1988 to a family of four children. Golachipa is a coastal area (attached to mainland Bangladesh) north of Katakhali. She went to school up to 9th grade. She got married in 2003 at age 15 and moved to Katakhali to live with her husband, Rana. She has one child, a boy called Asif Rana in second grade.

She hopes to have a second child.

After cyclone SIDR, she took shelter in the Health Center. Her home was destroyed. Samhati built her a new home and deeded it to her. She joined the cooperative after SIDR and has been taking literacy classes as well as classes in sewing, farming, and woodblock printing. She is reading much better now and can tutor her child. She really enjoys reading novels. She also writes letters to her mother and relatives. Her mother can also read. Nasima has purchased a sewing machine and earns a living as a tailor. She lives in a home by the river and has a small farm where she grows eggplant, chillies, rice, and gourds. Her husband is a boatman and operates a trawler. Nasima is also a wonderful, spirited dancer.

AvbygvwbK 1988 mv‡j bvwmgv MjvwPcvq Rb¥MÖnY K‡ib| Zviv Pvi fvB‡evb| wZwb beg †kÖYx ch©šÍ cov‡kvbv K‡i‡Qb| 2003 mv‡j 15 eQi eq‡m Zvi we‡q nq| Zvi ¯^vgx ivbvi m‡½ KvUvLvjx G‡m msmvi ïiæ K‡ib| Avwmd ivbv Zvi GKgvÎ mšÍvb| †m wØZxq †kÖYxi QvÎ| wZwb AviI GKwU mšÍvb Pvb| wmW‡ii S‡o wZwb ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq †bb| S‡o Zvi Ni †f‡O hvq| msnwZ Zv‡K evwo ˆZwi Ges Zvi bv‡g `wjj K‡i w`‡q‡Q| S‡oi c‡i wZwb mgev‡q †hvM w`‡q‡Qb Ges mvÿiZv K¬vmmn †mjvB, Pvlvev` Ges Kv‡Vi eøK wcÖw›Us‡q cÖwkÿY wb‡”Qb| wZwb GLb †ek fv‡jv co‡Z cv‡ib Ges Zvi †Q‡ji ¯‹z‡ji covq mvnvh¨ K‡ib| wZwb Dcb¨vm 46

byi ‡Pnviv Noor Sehera

†jLvcovi m‡½ †mjvB, Kv‡Vi eøK Qvcv I Pvlvev‡` cÖwkÿY wb‡”Qb| wZwb Lye Lywk, KviY co‡Z cvi‡Qb Ges Zvi cov GwM‡q hv‡”Q| wZwb GKwU †mjvB‡qi †gwkb wK‡b‡Qb Ges wb‡Ri `iwRi e¨emv ïiæ K‡i‡Qb| †cvkvK †mjvB K‡i wZwb fv‡jv DcvR©b Ki‡Qb| G Qvov wZwb kvKmewRi †ÿZ K‡ib Ges msmv‡ii e¨env‡ii c‡iI wKQz wewµ K‡ib| mgev‡q †hvM †`Iqvq Zvi ¯^vgx cÖ_g w`‡K Lywk wQ‡jb bv| wKš‘ Zvi msmv‡ii Avq †e‡o hvIqvq Zvi ¯^vgx Lywkg‡bB Zv‡K mvnvh¨ Ki‡Qb| Noor Sehera was born in Kalikepor Village, Golachipa to a family with four children in total. She was born around 1976. Her father died when she was young, and her mother farmed the land and worked very hard to support the family. She was married in 1994 (at age 18) and moved to Katakhali Village to be with her husband Faruk. She has two daughters: Urmi (age 16) and Othoi (age nine). She says she and her husband are happy with their two daughters and do not want to try for a son. Noor Sehera only studied up to grade 3 or 4 but she wants her daughters to go to college. Urmi received a scholarship from Samhati for high school and is now enrolled in college and wants to be a nurse. (High school ends in grade 10 and grade 11-12 is “college” in Bangladesh.)

byi †Pnvivi Rb¥ MjvwPcvi Kvwj‡Kci MÖv‡g| wZwb AvbygvwbK 1976 mv‡j Rb¥MÖnY K‡ib| Zvi †Q‡j‡ejvq Zvi evev gviv hvb Ges gv K‡Vvi cwikÖg K‡i msmvi Pvjvb| 1994 mv‡j 18 eQi eq‡m Zvi we‡q nq| we‡qi ci Zvi ¯^vgx dviæ‡Ki m‡½ KvUvLvjx k¦ïievwo‡Z Av‡mb| Zvi `ywU Kb¨vmšÍvb Av‡Q| 16 eQ‡ii Ewg© Ges 9 eQ‡ii A_B| byi ‡Pnviv e‡jb, Zvi ¯^vgx Ges wZwb `ywU †g‡q wb‡q Lywk Ges GKwU †Q‡jmšÍv‡bi Rb¨ †Póv Ki‡eb bv| byi ‡Pnviv Z…Zxq ev PZz_© †kÖYx ch©šÍ cov‡kvbv K‡i‡Qb wKš‘ wZwb Pvb Zvi †g‡qiv cov‡kvbv K‡i K‡j‡R hv‡e| Ewg© msnwZi e„wËi mvnv‡h¨ D”Pgva¨wgK wkÿv †kl K‡i K‡j‡R co‡Q Ges †m bvm© n‡Z Pvq|

Noor Sehera’s house fell during cyclone SIDR and she received a new home deeded to her from Samhati. She joined the cooperative and started literacy classes as well as classes in sewing, embroidery, block printing, and farming. She is very happy that she can now read a little and is improving. She has purchased a sewing machine and started her own tailoring business and is making a good living sewing clothes. She also grows leafy greens, beans, coriander, gourds and other vegetables to eat and to

wmW‡ii S‡o byi ‡Pnvivi Ni †f‡O †M‡j msnwZ bZzb Ni ˆZwi Ges Zvi bv‡g `wjj K‡i w`‡q‡Q| mgev‡q †hvM w`‡q wZwb 48

sell. Her husband was not happy at first when she joined the cooperative but now he is very supportive because he appreciates the money she is earning for the family.

cvifxb Parveen

Aemi †c‡jB eB c‡ob| Zvi †QvU †g‡q AvMvgx eQi ¯‹z‡j fwZ© n‡e Ges cvifxb †g‡q‡K co‡Z †kLv‡”Qb| †QvU †g‡q‡K wb‡q wZwb cÖwZw`b mgev‡q Av‡mb| Zvi ¯^vgxI Zvi Kv‡R Lywk| †ÿ‡Z wPbvev`vg, gmyi Wvj, KuvPv gwiP, jvD-Kzgov BZ¨vw`i Pvl K‡ib| Zv‡`i cwiev‡ii cÖ‡qvRb wgwU‡q AwZwi³ dmj wewµ K‡i †ek wKQz AwZwi³ Avq nq|

Parveen was born in Rangabali Village, the neighboring island, to a family of 10 children. She was born around 1982. She went to school until 5th grade.

She got married in 1999, when she was 17, and moved to Katakhali to be with her husband, Faruk Howlader. She has two children: Tanzila (girl, age 12, 6th grade) and Marzila (girl, age five). She says they are happy with two daughters and will not try for a son.

Parveen lost her home during SIDR and took shelter in the Health Center during SIDR and AILA. She was deeded a new home by Samhati.

She joined the cooperative after SIDR and started taking literacy classes as well as classes in woodblock printing and farming. She says she enjoys the literacy classes the most and that her reading has improved significantly. She can now read books and stories.

She is always reading whenever she has a few minutes of free time. She is planning to tutor her younger child when she starts school next year. Her husband likes her involvement with the cooperative and she comes every day, usually bringing her younger child along. She is growing peanuts, chillies, pumpkins, beans, and gourds. These supplement her family’s nutrition and the extra is sold.

Kv‡Qi Øxc iv½vevjx‡Z cvifx‡bi Rb¥| Zviv `k fvB‡evb| wZwb AvbygvwbK 1982 mv‡j Rb¥MÖnY K‡ib| 17 eQi eq‡m KvUvLvjxi dviæK nvIjv`v‡ii m‡½ Zvi we‡q nq| Zvi ci †_‡K wZwb KvUvLvjx‡Z msmvi ïiæ K‡ib| Zvi `ywU Kb¨vmšÍvb Av‡Q| 12 eQ‡ii ZvbwRjv Ges cuvP eQ‡ii gviwRjv| wZwb e‡jb, Zviv `ywU Kb¨vmšÍvb wb‡q Lywk| ZvB Avi cyÎmšÍv‡bi Rb¨ †Póv Ki‡eb bv| wmW‡ii S‡o cvifx‡bi evwo †f‡O hvq Ges Zviv cy‡iv cwievi msnwZi ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq wb‡qwQj| S‡oi c‡i msnwZ Zv‡K bZzb evwo ˆZwi Ges Zvi bv‡g `wjj K‡i w`‡q‡Q| wZwb eq¯‹ wkÿv‡K‡›`ª †hvM w`‡q wjL‡Z I co‡Z wk‡L‡Qb| Kv‡Vi eøK Qvcv I mewR Avev`I wk‡L‡Qb| wZwb e‡jb, †jLvcov †kLv Zvi Kv‡Q Avb‡›`i welq| wZwb GLb M‡íi eB co‡Z cv‡ib| 50

hvb Ges Zvi ci †_‡K †ivLmvbv `ywU mšÍvb wb‡q GKvB msmvi Pvjv‡”Qb|

†ivLmvbv Roxana

2007 mv‡j wmWi Ges 2009 mv‡j AvBjv †_‡K euvP‡Z ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq †bb| wmW‡i Zvi evwo weaŸ¯Í n‡q †M‡j msnwZ Zv‡K bZzb evwo ˆZwi Ges Zvi bv‡g `wjj K‡i w`‡q‡Q| wmW‡ii S‡oi ci wZwb mgevq mwgwZ‡Z †hvM w`‡q eq¯‹ wkÿv‡K‡›`ª †jLvcov ïiæ K‡ib| Av‡M Zvi bvgI wjL‡Z cvi‡Zb bv| wKš‘ GLb wZwb Lywk, KviY GKUz wjL‡Z I co‡Z cv‡ib| mwgwZ‡Z †hvM w`‡q dj I mewRi evMvb Ki‡Z wk‡L‡Qb| wZwb avb Pvl K‡ib Ges Zvi †cu‡cevMvbI Av‡Q| mgev‡qi m‡½ hy³ n‡q wZwb Lye Lywk Ges AZ¨šÍ Avb‡›`i m‡½ mgev‡qi me Kvh©µ‡g †hvM †`b| Roxana was born in Katakhali Village in approximately 1978. She was one of four children. Her family was very poor and at age seven she was sent to Dhaka to work for a family. She never went to school but spent her days washing the employer family’s clothes and helping out with housework.

The employer did not pay her but gave her new clothes every year and paid for her wedding. At age 17, she got married and came back to Katakhali to live with her husband, Fakar. Roxana has three children, a daughter Sharmin (age 16), a daughter Rabeya (age 10) and a son Radil (age five). Sharmin was a good student on a Samhati scholarship but eloped with a cousin who fell in love with her.

Roxana is very unhappy that her daughter gave up her studies so young. Rabeya is in 4th grade and Radil is starting school next year. Roxana’s husband died in 2009 of liver cancer, and Roxana lives on her own with her two young children.

AvbygvwbK 1978 mv‡j KvUvLvjx MÖv‡g AZ¨šÍ `wi`ª cwiev‡i †ivLmvbvi Rb¥| Zviv Pvi fvB‡evb| 7 eQi eq‡m GKwU cwiev‡i KvR Kivi Rb¨ XvKvq cvVv‡bv nq| †m KL‡bv ¯‹z‡j †h‡Z cv‡ibwb| Zvi mviv w`b Kvco †avqv Ges msmv‡ii NlvgvRv BZ¨vw` KvR Ki‡Z n‡Zv| GB cwievi Zv‡K †Kv‡bv †eZb †`qwb wKš‘ cÖwZeQi Zv‡K bZzb †cvkvK Ges Zvi we‡qi LiP w`‡qwQj| 17 eQi eq‡m KvUvLvjx MÖv‡gi dK‡ii m‡½ we‡q nq Ges MÖv‡g wd‡i G‡m msmvi ïiæ K‡ib| Zvi 3wU mšÍvb Av‡Q| 16 eQ‡ii Kb¨v kviwgb, 10 eQ‡ii Kb¨v iv‡eqv Ges 5 eQ‡ii ivw`j| kviwgb msnwZi e„wË wb‡q †jLvcov Pvjvw”Q‡jb| wKš‘ Zvi GK PvPv‡Zv fvB‡qi †cÖ‡g c‡o Zvi m‡½ P‡j hvq| G‡Zv Aí eq‡m †jLvcov †Q‡o †`Iqvq †ivLmvbv AZ¨šÍ `ytwLZ nb| iv‡eqv PZz_© †kÖYx‡Z c‡o Ges ivw`j AvMvgx eQ‡i ¯‹z‡j hv‡e| 2009 mv‡j †ivLmvbvi ¯^vgx K¨vbmv‡i AvµvšÍ n‡q gviv

Roxana and her family survived cyclones SIDR and 52

AILA in 2007 and 2009 by taking shelter in the Health Clinic. Her house was destroyed by SIDR, and Samhati built her a new home within three months and deeded it in her name. She joined the cooperative after cyclone SIDR and started the literacy classes. She could not even write her name before, but is now very happy that she can read and write a little. She has also learned fruit and vegetable farming from the cooperative. She grows rice and papayas. She loves being part of the cooperative and eagerly joins all the activities.

mvjgv Salma

hvb| wZwb Av‡M †_‡KB mgev‡qi m`m¨ wQ‡jb| wmW‡i Zvi Ni †f‡O hvIqvi c‡i msnwZ bZzb evwo ˆZwi Ges Zvi bv‡g `wjj K‡i w`‡q‡Q| mgev‡q †hvM †`Iqvi Av‡M wZwb †jLvcov Rvb‡Zb bv| wZwb Mwe©Z, KviY wZwb GLb co‡Z cv‡ib Ges A‡bK Aÿi wjL‡Z cv‡ib Avi `wj‡j ¯^vÿi w`‡Z cv‡ib| wZwb Pvb Zvi †Q‡j‡g‡qiv covïbv Ki‡e| Zvi ¯^vgx †R‡j wKš‘ gv‡Qi Afv‡e Zviv K‡ó Av‡Qb| mvjgv‡`i Rwg bvB e‡j Lv`¨ wKb‡Z nq| mgev‡qi Rwg‡Z mewR I gvQ Pvl K‡i wKQz evowZ Avq Ki‡Qb| †gvbv°vn bv‡g GK ai‡bi ¯œ¨vK evwb‡q ¯’vbxq evRv‡i wZwb wewµ K‡ib| Salma was born in approximately 1983 to a poor family in Gabunia Village, Barobaishdia Island (a neighboring village to Katakhali). She was one of four children, all girls, none of whom had the chance to go to school. At age 12, she was sent to Dhaka, the capital, to work in a garment factory, where she worked for five years. Around age 17 or 18 she was married to a young man of Katakhali Village and came to live with his family. She has three children: Evia (girl, age 16), Shakil (boy, age 12) and Rijol (boy, age four). Salma is very proud that her daughter is enrolled in school and is about to take her high school matriculation exams for grade 10. Shakil is in 8th grade and works for a restaurant in a neighboring village during school breaks.

eo evBkw`qv Øx‡ci Mveywbqv MÖv‡gi (KvUvLvjxi cv‡ki MÖvg) GK `wi`ª cwiev‡i AvbygvwbK 1983 mv‡j mvjgvi Rb¥| Zviv Pvi †evb wKš‘ †Kv‡bv †evbB ¯‹z‡j hvevi my‡hvM cvbwb| 12 eQi eq‡m Zv‡K ivRavbx XvKvq cvVv‡bv nq †cvkvK ˆZwi KviLvbvq KvR Kivi Rb¨| †mLv‡b wZwb cuvP eQi KvR K‡ib| 17/18 eQi eq‡m KvUvLvjx MÖv‡gi GK hye‡Ki m‡½ Zvi we‡q nq Ges wZwb KvUvLvjx wd‡i G‡m msmvi ïiæ K‡ib| Zv‡`i 3wU mšÍvb Av‡Q| 16 eQ‡ii †g‡q Bwfqv, 12 eQ‡ii †Q‡j kvwKj Ges 8 eQ‡ii †Q‡j wiRj| mvjgv Lye Mwe©Z, KviY Zvi eo †g‡q `kg †kÖYx‡Z c‡o Ges †m wkMwMiB gva¨wgK cixÿv †`‡e| kvwKj Aóg †kÖYx‡Z c‡o Ges QzwUi mgq cv‡ki MÖv‡gi ‡nv‡Uj †i‡¯Ívivq KvR K‡i|

Salma survived cyclones SIDR and AILA by taking shelter in the Health Center. She was already a member of the cooperative. Her home was destroyed by SIDR and she received a new home deeded to her from Samhati. Before joining the cooperative, she did not know how to write her name. She is very proud that she can now read and write many words and can sign documents. She

mvjgv ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq wb‡q wmWi I AvBjvi So †_‡K †eu‡P 54

hopes to educate all her children. Her husband fishes for others but the fish supply has greatly reduced so they are struggling to make a living.

Salma and her husband do not own any land so they are not able to grow their own food. Salma supplements her income by doing vegetable and fish farming on the cooperative property and by making a snack called “monokkah� that is sold at the market in a nearby village.

kvwn`v Shahida

Avb‡›` KvR K‡ib I mgq KvUvb| wZwb e‡jb, Av‡M cyiæ‡liv Zv‡`i eD‡`i evwoi evB‡i †h‡Z w`‡Zv bv wKš‘ GLb Zv‡`i A‡bK ¯^vaxbZv Av‡Q Ges mgev‡qi Ask n‡Z †c‡i Zviv Lye Lywk| wZwb jvjkvK, gyjvmn AviI kvKmewR djvb Ges nuvmgyiwM jvjbcvjb K‡ib|

Shahida was born in Katakhali Village in approximately 1978. Shahida studied only up to 1st or 2nd grade. She was married to Dilawar in 1994 and they have two children: Dilruba (girl, age 17) and Nibir (boy, age 11). Dilruba received Samhati high school scholarships for four years and is now enrolled in her intermediate college studies in the neighboring island. Nibir is in 5th grade.

Shahida lost her poultry, sheep, goats, and cow during cyclone SIDR. She and her family survived by taking shelter in the Health Center. She joined the cooperative after SIDR and enrolled in the literacy and farming classes. She is very excited that she can now read and write because of the literacy classes. She loves to come to the cooperative. She says that the members are very happy working and spending time together. She said that the husbands did not let the wives do much outside the home, but now the women have more freedom and enjoy being part of the cooperative. Shahida is growing radishes, red spinach, and other vegetables. She also raises ducks and chickens.

AvbygvwbK 1978 mv‡j KvUvLvjx MÖv‡g kvwn`vi Rb¥ nq| kvwn`v cÖ_g ev wØZxq †kÖYx ch©šÍ cov‡kvbv K‡i‡Qb| 1994 mv‡j †`jIqv‡ii m‡½ Zvi we‡q nq| Zv‡`i `ywU mšÍvb Av‡Q| 17 eQ‡ii Kb¨v w`jiæev Ges 11 eQ‡ii †Q‡j wbweo| w`jiæev Pvi eQi a‡i msnwZi e„wË wb‡q wb¤œgva¨wgK ¯‹z‡ji cov †kl K‡i cv‡ki MÖv‡g D”Pgva¨wgK K‡j‡R cov‡kvbv Ki‡Q| wbweo cÂg †kÖYx‡Z co‡Q| wmWi mvB‡K¬v‡b QvMj, gyiwM, MiæÑ meB bó n‡q hvq| ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq wb‡q Zvi cwievi cÖvY euvPvq| wmW‡ii c‡i kvwn`v mgevq mwgwZ‡Z Ges Pvlvev` I mvÿiZv K¬v‡m †hvM †`b| wZwb LyeB DjøwmZ, KviY GLb wjL‡Z I co‡Z cv‡ib| mgev‡q Avm‡Z wZwb Lye fv‡jvev‡mb Ges mevB wg‡jwg‡k 56

mxgv Shima

cÖwkÿY wb‡”Qb| eøK Qvcvi KvRI wkL‡Qb Ges †gvbv°vn bv‡g GKiKg ¯œ¨vK ˆZwi Ki‡Qb wewµi Rb¨| mvÿiZv K¬v‡m †hvM †`Iqvi c‡i †jLvcov A‡bK fv‡jv n‡q‡Q| wZwb GLb Zvi †Q‡j‡K cov‡Z cv‡ib| ZvB Lye Lywk| wZwb Ab¨ ev”Pv‡`i cwo‡q wKQz UvKv Avq K‡ib| wb‡R‡K wkwÿZ †f‡e Me© †eva K‡ib| wZwb Pvlvev`I K‡ib| Zvi dm‡ji g‡a¨ Av‡Q jvjkvK, Wvj, †cu‡c, wPbvev`vg I gwiP| Zvi ¯^vgx A‡b¨i Rwg‡Z gRy‡ii KvR K‡i Ges gvQ a‡ib| wZwb mgev‡qi GKRb m`m¨| mxgv hLb kvwo w`‡q Mí Mvu_v cÖK‡í KvR KiwQ‡jb, ZLb cÖwZw`bB Zvi ¯^vgx evwoi mevi Rb¨ ivbœv K‡iwQ‡jb| mxgvi kvïwo kvwnbyiI mgev‡qi m`m¨| wmW‡ii S‡oi c‡i wZwbI msnwZ †_‡K bZzb evwo †c‡qwQ‡jb| Shima was born in Modhukhali Village, Barobaishdia Island (a few miles from Katakhali) in approximately 1988. Her mother died at childbirth (giving birth to her first child) and her father disappeared afterwards. Shima was raised by her maternal grandparents, who are now deceased. Her grandparents sent her to school and she was able to study until grade 6. She was married at age 14 to Mamun Kha and came to live in Katakhali. She has two children: Zidan (boy, age seven) and Bristi (girl, age 18 months). Zidan is in grade 3.

mxgv KvUvLvjx †_‡K K‡qK gvBj `~‡i gayLvjx MÖv‡g AvbygvwbK 1988 mv‡j Rb¥MÖnY K‡ib| Zvi gv Zvi R‡b¥i mgq gviv hvb Ges Zvic‡i Zvi evev KvD‡K bv Rvwb‡q A`„k¨ nb| mxgvi bvbv-bvwb Zv‡K jvjb cvjb K‡ib| bvbv-bvwb GLb Avi †eu‡P †bB| Zvi bvbv-bvwb mxgv‡K ¯‹z‡j w`‡qwQj Ges wZwb lô †kÖYx ch©šÍ cov‡kvbv K‡iwQ‡jb| 14 eQi eq‡m KvUvLvjxi gvgyb Lvi m‡½ Zvi we‡q nq| wZwb KvUvLvjx‡Z G‡m msmvi ïiæ K‡ib| Zvi `ywU mšÍvb Av‡Q| mvZ eQ‡ii †Q‡j wR`vb I 18 gv‡mi †g‡q e„wó| wR`vb Z…Zxq †kÖYx‡Z cov‡kvbv Ki‡Q|

Shima took shelter in the Health Center during SIDR and AILA. Her house was damaged by SIDR and she was given money for repairs. She has been involved with the cooperative for several years, taking literacy classes, learning fish and crab cultivation, block printing classes, and making the “monokkah” snacks for sale. Her reading and writing have improved a lot after coming to the literacy classes. She is very happy that she can tutor her son.

She has also tutored other children for money. She

wmWi I AvBjvi S‡o mxgv ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq †bb| wmW‡i Zvi evwoi wKQz ÿwZ n‡qwQj Ges msnwZi A_©mvnv‡h¨ evwo †givgZ Kiv nq| †ek K‡qK eQi a‡i wZwb mgev‡qi m‡½ hy³ Av‡Qb| wZwb mvÿiZv K¬v‡m wbqwgZ hvb Ges gvQ I KuvKov Pv‡l 58

feels really proud of her literacy. She is also a farmer and grows red spinach, lentils, peanuts, chilies, and papayas. Her husband does farming and fishing for others and is also a member of the cooperative. He cooked for the family on the days when Shima was busy with Storytelling with Saris. Shima’s motherin-law Shahinoor is also a member of the cooperative and received a home from Samhati after SIDR.

RvwKqv Zakia

AZ¨šÍ Avbw›`Z, KviY GLb Zvi †QvU mšÍv‡bi ¯‹z‡ji †jLvcovq mvnvh¨ Ki‡Z cv‡ib, Zvi bvwZ‡K eB c‡o †kvbv‡Z cv‡ib Ges Zv‡K †jLvcovq mvnvh¨ K‡ib| Zvi eo mewRi Avev` i‡q‡Q| mwgwZ †_‡K A‡bK exR †c‡q wZwb Lywk| Pv‡li Rb¨ Uªv±i fvov K‡iwQ‡jb Ges wPbvev`vg, wgwó Avjy, ZigyR Ges bvbv mewR Avev` K‡iwQ‡jb| Av‡M ïay av‡bi Pvl Ki‡Zb wKš‘ GLb Zvi Rwg‡Z `yevi dmj djvb| Zvi mewR I djg~j wb‡R‡`i cwiev‡ii Pvwn`v wgwU‡q evRv‡i wewµ K‡i wKQz AwZwi³ DcvR©b K‡ib| wZwb evwo‡Z †mŠiwe`y¨‡Zi c¨v‡bj ¯’vcb K‡i‡Qb Ges Zvi GKwU †QvU †UwjwfkbI Av‡Q| Zakia was born in Chotobaishdia, a neighboring island, to a family of eight children in total. She estimates her age at 40, meaning she was born around 1973. She was lucky to be able to study until grade 6. She was married around age 14 and then moved to live with her husband’s family in Katakhali a year later. She has three children: a girl age 20, Shahana; a boy age 15, Moshiur Rahman, and another boy age nine or 10, Tulon. The girl studied up to grade 6 but was always bothered by boys and did not want to continue. Shahana got married around age 15 and lives in Jessore with her husband and child. Moshiur also studied up to grade 6 but then had to work to support the family. Zakia’s family had some difficult financial times and Moshiur had to cut soil for pay to help feed the family. The youngest boy, Tulon, is in school, in grade 4.

Kv‡Qi Øxc †QvU evBkw`qvq RvwKqv Rb¥MÖnY K‡ib| Zviv AvU fvB‡evb| wZwb g‡b K‡ib, Zvi eqm 40| A_©vr 1973 mv‡j Zvi Rb¥| Zvi fvM¨ fv‡jv, KviY lô †kÖYx ch©šÍ cov‡kvbv K‡iwQ‡jb| 14 eQi eq‡m Zvi we‡q nq| GK eQi c‡i KvUvLvjx G‡m msmvi ïiæ K‡ib| wZb mšÍv‡bi gv| 20 eQ‡ii †g‡q mvnvbv, 15 eQ‡ii †Q‡j gwkDi ingvb Ges `k eQ‡ii †Q‡j Uzjb| Zvi †g‡q lô †kÖYx ch©šÍ c‡owQj| Zvici †Q‡jiv wei³ Kivq Avi cov‡kvbv K‡iwb| 15 eQi eq‡m Zvi we‡q nq Ges Zvi ¯^vgx I wkïmšÍvb wb‡q h‡kv‡i emevm K‡i| gwkDiI lô ‡kÖYx ch©šÍ c‡o‡Q| wKšÍ Zvici Zvi KvR Ki‡Z nq msmv‡i Afv‡ei Kvi‡Y| mevi †QvU Zzjb PZz_© †kYx‡Z c‡o| RvwKqvi evwoI wmW‡ii S‡o ÿwZMÖ¯Í n‡qwQj| S‡oi mgq wZwb ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq wb‡qwQ‡jb| Zvici mgev‡qi mvÿiZv K¬v‡m †hvM †`b Ges mewR Pvl I Kv‡Vi eøK Qvcv †k‡Lb| wZwb

Zakia’s home was damaged by cyclone SIDR. She took shelter in the health clinic during the cyclone.

She then joined the cooperative’s literacy classes and also learned vegetable gardening and wood block printing. She is thrilled that now she can help her

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help her grandchild. Zakia is proud of her huge garden/farm. She received lots of seeds from the cooperative, which made her very happy. She rented a tractor and planted peanuts, sweet potato, watermelon, and vegetables. Previously she used to plant only rice, but now she uses the land for a second round of production. She uses the vegetables and fruit to feed her own family and also sells them to supplement their income. Zakia has installed solar power on her home and even has a small television.

Ry‡jLv Zulekha

Av‡mb| wb‡Ri evMvb ïiæ Kivi Rb¨ mgevq mwgwZ Zv‡K bvbv iKg exR w`‡q‡Q| wZwb ZigyR, KuvPv gwiP, wPbvev`vg I jvjkv‡Ki Pvl ïiæ K‡i‡Qb| Zvi cwiev‡ii Lvev‡ii c‡i Aewkó dmj wewµ K‡ib| Ry‡jLv nuvm cvjb Ges nuv‡mi wWg wewµ K‡iI wKQz evowZ †ivRMvi K‡ib|

Zulekha was born in Aamkhola Village, Golachipa in approximately 1978 to a family of five children.

None of the children had the opportunity to go to school. Zulekha lost her mother at a young age. She got married at around age 18 and moved to Katakhali to be with her husband, who is about five years older than Zulekha. She has four children, all boys: Alamgir (age 12, 7th grade), Ibrahim (age nine, 5th grade), Imran (age seven, 3rd grade), and Nazman (age four).

During cyclones SIDR and AILA, she and her family took shelter in the Health Center. She lost the roof of her house during SIDR and received tin for repairs. She was already a member of the cooperative, where she has taken literacy classes as well as classes on fish cultivation and farming. She is very happy that she can now write her name and read and write quite a few words. She goes to the cooperative almost every day. She received seeds from the cooperative to start her own garden and planted watermelon, chillies, peanuts, and red pinach. Her harvest feeds her family and the remainder is sold. Zulekha also raises ducks for their eggs.

MjvwPcv Dc‡Rjvi Avg‡Lvjv MÖv‡g AvbygvwbK 1978 mv‡j Ry‡jLvi Rb¥| Zviv cuvP fvB‡evb| Z‡e †KDB ¯‹z‡j hvbwb| Ry‡jLv †QvU‡ejvq gv‡K nvivb| 18 eQi eq‡m Zvi we‡q nq| ¯^vgxi m‡½ KvUvLvjx G‡m msmvi ïiæ K‡ib| Zvi PviwU cyÎmšÍvb i‡q‡Qb| 12 eQ‡ii AvjgMxi mßg †kÖYx‡Z c‡o, 9 eQ‡ii Beªvwng cÂg, 7 eQ‡ii Bgivb Z…Zxq †kÖYx‡Z c‡o Ges bvRgv‡bi eqm 4 eQi| wmWi I AvBjvi S‡o Zviv †MvUv cwievi ¯^v¯’¨‡K‡›`ª AvkÖq †bq| S‡o Zvi Qv` D‡o wM‡qwQj Z‡e msnwZi mvnv‡h¨ Zvi Qv` wUb w`‡q †givgZ K‡i †`qv nq| Av‡M †_‡KB wZwb mgev‡qi m`m¨ wQ‡jb| †mLv‡b †jLvcov wk‡L‡Qb| dm‡ji Avev` I gvQ Pvl m¤ú‡K© cÖwkÿY wb‡q‡Qb| wZwb Lye Lywk, KviY Zvi bvg wjL‡Z cv‡ib Ges †ek wKQz kã co‡Z cv‡ib| wZwb cÖvq cÖwZw`bB mgevq mwgwZi Kvh©vj‡q 62

A`„k¨ cwiwPwZ: KvUvLvjxi gwnjv‡`i wPšÍvaviv‡K g~javivq Zz‡j aiv †ivKmvbv e`iæ‡ÏvRv gwnjv wn‡m‡e GKRb wfbœ eY© (A‡k¦Zv½) bvixev`x A_ev Dcwb‡ek-cieZ©x Z…Zxq we‡k¦i bvix AwaKviev`x, `k eQi eq‡mi Kb¨v †h ¯‹z‡j Zvi ev`vwg iO‡K gvwb‡q Pjvi †Póv Ki‡Q, Ggb Kb¨vi gv, GKRb mgvRweÁvbx Ges bvixwelqK cvVµ‡gi Aa¨vcK wn‡m‡e Avgvi eªZ n‡”Q we‡k¦ wfbœ eY© (A‡k¦Zv½) gwnjv‡`i ¯^xK…wZ †`qv Ges G‡`i gh©v`vi AwaKvi‡K mg_©b Kiv| Gme cÖvwšÍK Ges Aeg~j¨vwqZ `vwe‡K g~javivq Avbvi Rb¨ Avgvi GB KvR Aek¨¤¢vex †h cÖkœwU m¤§y‡L Av‡b Zv n‡”Q GKRb gwnjvi e¨w³MZ cQ›` I Ae¯’vb Kxfv‡e Zvi ¯^KxqZv Ges Zvi BwZnvm‡KB (AvZ¥cwiPq) ïay bq, eis Zvi wb‡Ri RwUj mvgvwRK m¤úK©mg~n‡KI (mvgvwRK cwiPq) cÖwZdwjZ Ki‡Q| Ab¨ K_vq wfbœ eY© gwnjv‡`i `vwe¸‡jv wb‡q Zviv Kx ej‡Z Pvq Ges Kxfv‡e wfbœ e‡Y©i gwnjviv wb‡R‡`i GKwU NUbvcÖev‡ni AšÍfz©³ Ki‡Z cv‡i, †hLv‡b Zv‡`i ¯^xq AwfÁZv ¯’vbxq, RvZxq Ges AvšÍR©vwZK Kg©Kv‡Ð cwic~Y© f~wgKv ivL‡e?

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Ôbvixi K_vÕ cwi‡ekwfwËK bvixev‡`i cwi‡cÖwÿ‡Z ¸iæZ¡c~Y©| †evm KwVb Rjevqy cwieZ©b-cÖwµqvq cÖfvevwš^Z GKwU bvix m¤úª`vq wb‡q KvR Ki‡QÑ KvUvLvjx ØxcwU mgy‡`ª wejxb n‡q hvevi Avfvm cvIqv †M‡Q| †evm wbh©vwZZ bvix Ges wbh©vwZZ cÖK…wZi g‡a¨i †hvMm~‡Îi wel‡q Zvi cÖwZwµqv Rvwb‡q‡Qb| mvÿiZv Kg©kvjv †_‡K cÖ¯‘Z kvwoi gva¨‡g †ev‡mi KvR KvUvLvjxi gwnjv‡`i cÖ‡qvRbxqZv I ¸iæZ¡ Zz‡j a‡i‡Q| Ôbvixi K_vqÕ gwnjviv GB aviYv A¯^xKvi K‡i‡Q †h cÖK…wZ I bvix ïay Drcv`‡bi DcKiY; eis Zviv Rxe‡bi AwZ cÖ‡qvRbxq wel‡q Ae`vb iv‡L|

js AvBj¨vÛ, wbDBqK© Ryb 6, 2013

†ivKmvbv e`iæ‡ÏvRv wØZxq cÖR‡b¥i evsjv‡`wk Av‡gwiKvb Ges ivwb‡mi gv| W. e`iæ‡ÏvRv g¨vbnvUvb K‡j‡Ri mgvRweÁv‡bi Aa¨vcK Ges "Eyes of the storms: The Voices of South Asian-American Women."-Gi †jwLKv| 65

Invisible Identities: Bringing the Voices of the Women of Katakhali to the Center Roksana Badruddoja

As a Bangladeshi-American woman, a womanist or feminist of color, a postcolonial, a “Third-World” feminist, a mother to 10-year-old girl who is negotiating her “brownness” at school, and a professor of women’s studies and sociology, my mission is to recognize the voices of women of color transnationally and affirm the dignity of all women. This task of bringing marginalized and peripheral voices to the center inevitably raises questions about how one can represent an individual woman’s preferences and priorities in order to reflect her own unique subjectivities and histories (self-identity) but also bear the imprint of her own complex social relationships (social identity). In other words, what do the voices of women of color have to say? And, how can women of color insert themselves into a story in which their experiences have a fuller role to play locally, nationally, and globally?

“white”). Women, particularly women of color, are commonly constructed as the marked Other, and Othering is a practice of domination. Here, I find “western” feminist movements to be highly fragmented and based on false assumptions of gender and culture essentialisms. “Western” feminism assumes that all women share a coherent group identity as women, and “third world women” are portrayed as victims of their culture. When “culture” is read from the bodies of women of color, it is often inserted into the hiatus between the “east” and the “west,” yielding cultural practices as part of an untroubled model of secular progressivism in which the “third world” can only be read as a trope of incarceration. I am specifically bothered with the conflation between Islam and "backward" versus "westernization" (read as “white” and Christian) and "modern," rendering women of color and resistance as virtually impossible! “Western” feminism simply refuses to accommodate the multi-layered experiences of women.

It is tempting to present the experiences of women of color solely through the conventional tales of Orientalism. We often understand women of color through the monolithic lens of being held captive by “culture” to be followed by their achievements and exceptionalisms with the intervention of free and democratic societies (read as “western” and

Her Words: Storytelling with Saris is an urgent call for the representations of women of color through their own voices, where the power to define and represent lies with not only the woman who designed and implemented the project but also with 66

the women who participated. Monica Jahan Bose’s thirteen-year-long engagement with a literacy and eco-empowerment program inspired a collaborative printmaking and storytelling project celebrating the lives of twelve women from the island community of Katakhali, Bangladesh and their achievements in literacy. In Her Words, Bose comes together with a group of women who survived successive cyclones to support them in developing reading and writing skills, a step forward in rebuilding their lives towards both personal and economic empowerments. Here, Bose created literacy workshops in which the women began to document their life herstories, culminating into twenty-four eighteen-foot-long woodblock prints of words and images that came out of the women’s written autobiographies.

Through their handwriting, painting, and woodblocks, the women imprinted their stories on saris.

The use of saris as a canvas of communication coupled with woodblock printing are critical to the (re-)production of culture as both saris and woodblock printing are integral aspects of Bangladeshi heritage. Twelve women – Hasina, Hawa, Khuku Rani, Nasima, Noor Sehera, Parveen, Roxana, Salma, Shahida, Shima, Zakia, and Zulekha – and twenty-four saris unfold powerful statements around resilience, achievement, self-identity, womanhood, and agency.

discourses – versus Katakhali’s real women – material subjects and their collective herstories – who have multiple alliances as a result of both manipulating and resisting racial and gendered hegemonies at the local and national levels and transnationally. Like Mohanty, Bose’s work draws attention to the discursive colonization of the material and historical heterogeneities of the lives of women in the “third world” (and those who trace their heritage to the “third world”), a central trepidation against feminist scholarship in the “west.” In Her Words, Bose frames feminism as a particular world-view that allows multiple variables of a woman’s identity to work together to combat oppression.

Her Words is a compelling commentary of the problems posed by “western” feminist discourse around race and gender. Bose’s project further allows us to think about the development of Chandra T. Mohanty’s theoretical “Third-World Woman” – a cultural and ideological composite Other constructed through diverse representational

Bose’s commitment to progressive feminist methodology is clear. Inspired by an emancipatory research model, Bose listened to women speak and read their written words to learn about them. The issues, then, emerged directly from the women themselves, and in this way, Bose engaged with the women of Katakhali – Bose’s ancestral village – to learn about

Her Words is significant within the context of eco-feminism. Bose draws out stories from a community of women who are impacted by severe climate change – Katakhali is expected to disappear.

Bose responds to the link between the oppression of women and the oppression of nature. Through the production of saris via literacy workshops, Bose’s work suggests the importance and relevancy of the women in Katakhali. In Her Words, the women reject the notion that both women and nature are mere resources. Rather, they contribute to essential aspects of living.

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herself. Her Words reveals that women are the marked “Other” and masculinity is the unmarked or the normal. Bose’s project sheds light on the hierarchical margin between men and women, but more so, within this gender juxtaposition, Her Words underscores that the social treatment of women is problematic at best and deadly at worst around the world. Her Words uncovers how women are silenced and how they can speak up, and Bose recovers unrecognized or suppressed aspects of women’s experience.

Finally, I am touched by how Bose’s work is part of a personal journey as our stories as women of color have often been shared through the voices of others. Here, Bose astutely locates herself in the context of multiple loyalties. In the collaborative storytelling project, Bose implicates herself as a woman, as a Bangladeshi, as an American, as a confidant, as a friend, as a fictive kin or sister, and, finally, as an artist and an advocate. Clearly, our work as women of color is always personal.

Long Island, New York June 6, 2013.

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kvwo civ bvix Sari Photoshoot

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bvP Avi Mvb Singing and Dancing

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Waiting for you in my new sari H †h PBjøv †Mj †i‡ji Mvwo `yt‡L gwi eÜz Avgvi bv Avwmj evwoKZ Avkvq eBk¨v iBwQ wc›`v bZzb kvwo| evevq †gv‡i †`‡Q weqv we‡`wk RvgvB gv‡m gv‡m UvKv cvVvq, mßvq mßvq wPwV mv‡n‡e wK †`q bv †Zvgvq `yB GK w`‡bi QzwU Avwg gBiv †M‡j LvB‡qv Zywg we‡`‡ki KvgvB KZ Avkvq eBk¨v iBwQ AvBbœv i‡mi nvwo eÜz bv Avwm‡jv evwoZzwg hw` nBZv eÜz Avgvi gZ bvix H †h PBjøv †Mj Mvwo eÜz bv Avwm‡jv evwo|

The train just left and I’m dying of sadness My friend you did not come home I’m sitting here waiting for you in my new sari My father married me off to a foreign man Every month he sends money, every week a letter Doesn’t your foreign boss give you a few days of vacation?

When I die, you can enjoy your foreign earnings I’m sitting here waiting for you in my new sari My friend you did not come home The train just left and I’m dying of sadness My friend you did not come home 75

Do you know the song of love? gvN gv‡m gay wgwó, ˆR¨ô gv‡m Avg, Zzwg Avgvi eÜz n‡j †Zvgvq LvIqvBZvg| Zzwg wK Rvb eÜz fvjevmvi Mvb? Rvb‡j Av‡M dz‡ji gvjv †Zvgvq covBZvg,

In winter the honey is sweet, in summer it’s the mango If you were my friend, I would feed them to you Do you know, my friend, the song of love?

If I had known it before, I would have put a garland of flowers around your neck

GB bq‡b jvM‡Q hv‡i, ‡Kgb K‡i fzje Zv‡i, dz‡ji gvjv n‡j Zv‡i, Mjvq covBZvg, gvN gv‡m gay wgwó, ... ... ... (II)

Now that I’ve seen him How can I forget him?

If I had a garland of flowers, I would have put it around his neck.

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My sari got wet, but you didn’t see it It’s raining so hard, the rain won’t stop My sari got all wet, but you didn’t see it My dear brother-in-law, The river of love is right next door, but you didn’t take a dip.

You’ve been so many places, but you didn’t make it to Delhi.

You ate paan and betelnuts, but didn’t taste the honey.

My dear brother-in-law…

My husband has a job at Meherpur Town We writes me letters, but he doesn’t come home.

It’s raining so hard, the rain won’t stop.

My sari got wet, but you didn’t see it.

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Szgyi Szgyi e„wó c‡i Avi ‡Zv _v‡g bv wf‡R †Mj kvwo Avgvi PvBqv `¨vLjvbv| Avgvi i‡mwi †`Iiv, evwoi cv‡k †cÖ‡gi b`x Wze w`jv bv KZ RvqMvq †Mjv Zzwg w`wjø †Mjv bv, cvb ïcvwi LvBjv Zzwg gay LvBjv bv, Avgvi i‡miB †`Iiv¯^vgx Avgvi PvKwi K‡i †g‡nicyi _vbvq I †m wPwV †j‡L †m‡Zv evwo Av‡mbv| Svgyi Szgyi e„wó c‡i Avi †Zv _v‡gbv|

I’ll set my sari on fire If you don’t come home this time, I’m going to set my sari on fire Your cousin Joynal Abedin, Bought me a bottle of kerosene.

The matches are right in front of me, No one is allowed to move them.

I will set my sari on fire…

Gevi bv Avwm‡j evox‡Z Av¸b jvMvBqv w`‡ev Avgvi kvox‡Z| ‡Zvgvi PvPv‡Zv fvB Rqbvj Av‡e`xb evRvi †_‡K wK‡b w`‡Q mv`v †K‡ivwmb| g¨vP evwZUv mvg‡b †i‡L ‡`Bbv Kv‡iv bvwi‡Z| Av¸b jvMvBqv w`‡ev Avgvi kvox‡Z|

I’ve been waiting and waiting for you for six years The neighbors are all talking, saying all kinds of things I want to keep waiting for you But other folks won’t let me I’m going to set my sari on fire

‡Zvgvi Avkvq Avkvq eQi †Mj Qq, cvovi †jv‡K †W‡K Avgvq KZ K_v Kq| ‡Zvgvi Avkvq _vK‡Z Avwg PvB, ‡KD Zv gvb‡Z bv Pvq| Av¸b jvMvBqv w`‡ev Avgvi kvox‡Z|

I’ve stopped eating waiting for you, the rice is untouched If you don’t come home this time, I’m going to set my sari on fire.

‡c‡Ui wL`v †c‡U _v‡K, fvZ c‡P †gvi nvuwo‡Z, Gevi bv Avwm‡j evox‡Z, Av¸b jvMvBqv w`‡ev kvox‡Z| 78

รทzwWIโ กZ kvwo Studio Photos of Saris

Monica Jahan Bose and Julekha, We All Work Together, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

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Monica Jahan Bose and Noor Sehera, Water from the Darchira River, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

Monica Jahan Bose and Hawa, Agunmukha River, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

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Monica Jahan Bose and Khuku Rani, Who is he/she?, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

Monica Jahan Bose and Shahida, I Love My Country, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

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Monica Jahan Bose and Nasima, Katakhali Cooperative, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

Monica Jahan Bose and Roxana, Red Onions, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

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Monica Jahan Bose and Zakia, Fear Storms, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

Monica Jahan Bose and Salma, Darchira and Agunmukha Rivers, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

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Monica Jahan Bose and Hasina, White Onions on Black, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

Monica Jahan Bose and Parveen, Strength in Togetherness, 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

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Monica Jahan Bose and Shima, Thirst (I want Water), 2013, woodblock and painting on handloom cotton sari, 48 x 216 inches.

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gwbKv Rvnvb †ev‡mi QvcwPÎ Monica Jahan Bose’s Prints

Indelible Scent, 2012, woodblock print on handmade cotton paper, 22 x 36 inches, unique image.

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Open the Door, 2012, woodblock print on handmade cotton paper, 22 x 36 inches, unique image.

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Hawa (Wind), 2013, woodblock print, graphite, and watercolor on handmade cotton paper, 22 x 36 inches, unique image.

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Estrogen 2 (Red Blood and Flying Birds), 2011, etching, monoprint, and Chine collĂŠ with handpainted rice paper and newspaper on handmade paper, 21 x 32 inches, ed. of 3 prints.

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Flying Away, 2011, etching, aquatint, Chine collĂŠ with newspaper, graphite and watercolor on paper, 16 x 21 inches, variant ed. of 4 (left).

Moonlight by the Red River, 2011, etching and mono print on handmade paper, 16 x 21 inches, variant ed. of 4 (right).

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Queen of Onions (Peyaj Rani), 2013, woodblock print, etching and aquatint on handmade cotton paper, 22 x 36 inches, unique image (left).

Onion Princess 2, 2012, woodblock print, graphite, and watercolor on handmade cotton paper, 22 x 36 inches, unique image (right).

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The Red Path, 2011, etching, aquatint, Chine collĂŠ, graphite and watercolor on paper, 15 x 21 inches, unique image (left).

Ripe Fruit, 2011, etching, aquatint, monoprint, hand drawing and watercolor on paper, 15 x 21 inches, unique image (right).

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SAMHATI AND THE KATAKHALI PROJECT medical care in the area at all until the Katakhali Project was commenced. Katakhali has no roads, no electricity, no running water, no sewerage, no cars or even rickshaws. In the last 20 years, the population of the area had greatly increased and the soil has become infertile from repeated cyclones. There were few opportunities for families to make a living.

Women and girls were the worst off. Their life expectancy and literacy rates were shockingly low, and they had had little power over their own lives.

Samhati, an all-volunteer non-profit organization, was founded in 1984 by a group of Bangladeshi women living in the Washington DC area. “Samhati” means “solidarity” in Bengali. Grounded and inspired by the idea that women can empower themselves and gain greater agency through education, Samhati’s mission is to fund and support small projects that improve the social and economic conditions of poor women and children in Bangladesh. Samhati believes that the entire family and community can benefit when the female head of household is given education and other skills. The projects Samhati supports have no religious affiliation and are available to women of all faiths.

Samhati supports three major eco-empowerment projects located in Natore, Rangpur, and Katakhali.

Samhati commenced the Katakhali Project with a local NGO partner. Over the years, the women have become leaders and currently the project is run by a cooperative of local village staff and volunteers.

From 2007-12 the project received support from the International Monetary Fund’s Civic Program, but is otherwise funded solely by individual donors.

Classes in ecological vegetable and fruit farming, sewing, fabric printing, candle-making, confection making, and fish and crab cultivation have allowed the women of Katakhali to not only provide for themselves and their families, but to produce an abundance for the sale of these products, bringing in extra income. The farming and fish-cultivation classes teach the villagers adaptation to the impacts of climate change, which has salinated the soil and reduced the availability of fish in the ocean and adjacent rivers. These classes have improved health

The Katakhali Project, which was commenced in 2000, works to empower women and their families through adult literacy classes, skills training, leadership development, scholarships for poor children, a pre-school, and free or sliding fee health services though a Health Center. Katakhali (population 1,570) is a remote village where most people lead a subsistence life based on fishing and farming. It is located on Barobaishdia Island (population 27,430) which is approximately 20 miles long and three miles wide. The nearest hospital is a distance of 10 hours journey. There was no doctor, nurse, or 93

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in the village by diversifying food, resulting in better nutrition and creating a significant increase in the quality of life for the community. Many adult women have learned to read, enabling them to value a greater role of education for themselves and their children. The training which occurs at the cooperative promotes self-sufficiency and sustainable practices. Samhati’s Katakhali Project is an innovative program which takes a participatory approach that leads to collective empowerment.

The Katakhali Project includes the Health Center which provides medical services to approximately 500 families, in Katakhali and the surrounding villages, who would otherwise receive no medical care. The Health Center provides prenatal and postnatal care for women, infant care, sick visits and checkups for children and adults, as well as vaccinations. Family planning is free in Bangladesh, and the Katakhali Project leaders ensure that the government officer comes weekly to provide free counseling and services. Training is also provided by the clinic on preventative health awareness, as well as nutritional strategy and information. Since the creation of the Katakhali Project, the birth rate in the village has greatly reduced and the average number of children is now approximately two per woman. The Health Center served as a shelter for most of the villagers during cyclone SIDR in November 2007, cyclone AILA in May 2009, and cyclone Mahasen in 2013. No one in Katakhali perished during these cyclones, and the Health Center provided immediate treatment for the villagers’ injuries.

Through the Katakhali Project, Samhati annually 95

Cooperative farming

Packing and weighing monakkah

provides $2,000 to fund scholarships at $70 each to 28 children. This small stipend allows these 28 children to attend middle and high school in Katakhali rather than work to help their families. In total, 177 children have received scholarships from this program, and 60 children have been able to finish high school. The scholarship recipients have gone on to find jobs, have taught their parents to read, and have brought about a tangible change in the community.

Although progress of the Katakhali Project has been hampered by a succession of natural disasters, Samhati was able to effectively deliver timely relief.

In addition, Samhati designed and rebuilt 52 homes destroyed by the cyclones, deeding these sturdier homes to the female heads of household, a revolutionary gesture in the community. Having the homes in their own names, and most importantly, having the cooperative – a place to go everyday – has been an important factor in empowering the women of the village. Not only are they enriching their lives through education, but they are learning to demand greater rights and services from the government, earning additional money for their families, and gaining both confidence and mobility.

Staff of Kathakhali Cooperative, pictured from left: Khuku Rani (housekeeper), Sunetra Khanom (doctor’s assistant), Mahmuda Lina (project coordinator), Matoara Islam (field supervisor), Mehnaz Akhtar (adult literacy teacher), and Dr. Swadip Kumar (Physician, Health Center), January 2013.

Members of Katakhali Cooperative, January 2013.

The Katakhali Project is currently coordinated by Mahmuda Lina and Matoara Islam, both of whom grew up in Katakhali. The current members of Samhati’s Board of Directors are Noorjahan Bose (Secretary), Jahanara Hasan (Joint Secretary), Shaan Noman (Treasurer), Jahanara Ali, Shamarukh Billah, Monica Jahan Bose, Selima Faruqee, Roquia Haider, Jhinuk Hasan–Fulton, Wajeda J. Rab and Alema Siddiky.

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98

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cwievi cwiKíbvi †Kv‡bv e¨e¯’v †bB| we‡`wk Dbœqb ms¯’v¸‡jv‡KI IB AÂj m¤ú‡K© †Kv‡bv aviYvB †`qv nqwb| Avgvi Rxe‡b Av¸bgyLvi cÖfve AšÍnxb| GB A‡ji mgMÖx Rb‡Mvôx Avgvi AvZ¥vi AvZ¥xq| G‡`i myL-`yt‡Li Kvwnbx Avgvi Rxe‡bi myL-`yt‡Li K_v| ZvB Avgvi RxebKvwnbx Av¸bgyLvi †g‡qiB Kvwnbx| XvKv, Rvbyqvwi, 2009 ÔAv¸bgyLvi †g‡qÕ Avb›` cÖKvk, KjKvZv (2011), Ges mvwnZ¨ cÖKvk, XvKv, (2009) b~iRvnvb †evm 1938 mv‡j ZrKvjxb weªwUk fvi‡Zi Ask KvUvLvjxi GKwU †RvZ`vi cwiev‡i Rb¥MÖnY K‡ib| Zuvi †Q‡j‡ejvq fviZ wefw³i mgq wZwb K‡qKwU mv¤úª`vwqK `v½v ¯^P‡ÿ †`‡L‡Qb| ˆK‡kv‡iB wZwb m`¨ ¯^vaxbZvcÖvß cvwK¯Ív‡bi cÖ‡`k c~e© cvwK¯Ív‡bi cÖMwZkxj ivRbxwZ‡Z Rwo‡q c‡ob| 17 eQi eq‡m wZwb GKRb ZiæY ivRbxwZwe‡`i †cÖ‡g c‡o Zuv‡K we‡q K‡ib| wKš‘ 18 eQi eq‡m AšÍtmË¡v Ae¯’vq weaev nb| Zuvi k¦ïievwoi cwievi Zuv‡K c`©vbkxb Kivi †Póv K‡i| wZwb Gi we‡ivwaZv K‡i Zuvi wkïmn †m evwo †Q‡o AvevwmK ZË¡veavq‡Ki Kv‡R wb‡qvwRZ nb| GKwU ¯‹z‡j KvR K‡i wZwb wb‡Ri wkïmšÍvbmn wb‡R‡K Ges bvbv SoSÅv I ivR‰bwZK msK‡U AvewZ©Z fvB‡evb‡`iI cÖwZcvjb K‡i‡Qb| Gi g‡a¨ wZwb XvKv wek¦we`¨vjq †_‡K mœvZK wWwMÖ AR©b Ki‡Z mÿg nb| c~e© cvwK¯Ív‡bi fvlv Av‡›`vj‡bI wZwb GKRb ZiæY AskMÖnYKvix wQ‡jb|

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(Daughter of the Agunmukha) Noorjahan Bose to negotiate the perilous Agunmukha every day.

From the time I was a little girl, I had heard about the Agunmukha, the “Mouth of Fire.� The name would always send a chill down my spine. Seven mighty rivers nourished Agunmukha - Agunmukha, Tentulia, Lohalia, Bura Gouranga, Rabnabad, Darchirha and Digree.

Agunmukha is where seven rivers meet. All you can see there is turbulent water. The glowing reflection of sunlight on the violent waves resembles the blazing ribbons of a fiercely burning fire. Perhaps the name Agunmukha is homage to this image.

A number of islands and deltas had emerged naturally near the Bay of Bengal, south of the port town called Golachipa. Among these were Barobaishdia, Chottobaishdia or Rangabali, Kajal, Mantas, Kukrimukri, Kalagachhia, Andarchar, Sonarchar, and a few others. Nearly two hundred years ago, the pirates of Burma (now Myanmar) and the neighboring Arakan mountains had established villages in some of the higher landforms such as Barobaishdia and Chottobaishdia. The fertile soil, rivers teeming with fish, and deep forests of the Sundarbans had tempted them to occupy these deltas. Later, the Bengalis also arrived there. They lived in peace with the Burmese.

Nothing would come into view while crossing Agunmukha - only water and more water. My mother, aunts, grandmother, and many villagers told me that in trying to escape the violence of their husbands and in-laws, unhappy wives would fling themselves into Agunmukha's fierce vortex. To avoid their communities' rejection, lovers would jump into it holding hands. Actually, people had stopped keeping count of how many souls were lost while attempting to cross Agunmukha in a dinghy or even a sizable boat.

My great grandfather Chande Ali Sardar had put down roots in the village of Katakhali in Barobaishdia. We owned another home in the village of Londa near Golachipa. But we would have to travel to Katakhali often to attend weddings, festivals, and various celebrations. It would take twelve to thirteen hours to sail in a large boat from Londa to Katakhali. Of course, we were totally dependent on the tides and the moods of the wind.

The ferocity of Agunmukha was legendary. But the people living on Golachipa, Khepuparha, Amtali, Kajal, and most nearby islands had to brave her for business and other work-related necessities on a daily basis. Even a few years ago, none of these places had electricity, doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, or even schools. Thus, the people were compelled 101

When we had to go to Londa for medical care or to the town for books and school supplies, we were both terrified and excited. To cross Agunmukha was like a game of chance. Some reached their destinations safely and others sank to the bottom of the wild river.

ferry to travel between our homes in Golachipa and Katakhali. There is a school in Katakhali now. But the area still lacks electricity, hospital, roads, or comfortable housing. People still seek divine intervention when cyclones hit or floodwaters wash away their homes. There, [before we started the Samhati project in 2000], the rates of infant mortality and women dying in childbirth were among the highest in the country. There was no family planning center. None of the foreign aid agencies were even aware of the needs of the people of Agunmukha.

My father never fully trusted a boatman with the responsibility of taking us across Agunmukha. He himself would firmly hold on to the tiller. Many a time my father would be pounded around on the planks to have his head gashed and sustain serious injuries to his limbs. Sitting inside the galley, I would shut my eyes tightly and pray that my father not be washed overboard. I would hurl myself on him as soon as we completed the crossing. After that I would calm down and be able to look at the exotic nature surrounding us. There were birds of innumerable colors, gaggles of sand dwelling geese, terns flying around, and kingfishers diving after their daily meals. My heart would fly and sing with them. And I would also notice that my father's face was bright with excitement and accomplishment.

Agunmukha's impact on my life is immeasurable.

The people who inhabit this brutal land hold my heart in their hands. Their stories of joy and sorrow are also mine.

Dhaka, January 2009 Preface to Agunmukhar Meye (Daughter of the Agunmukha), published in Bengali by Ananda Publishers (Kolkata, India, 2011), ISBN 978-935040-028-9. Previously published by Shahittya Publishers (Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2009). Translation

by Shamita Das Dasgupta.

Over the years, many deltas and small islands had surfaced in Agunmukha. Hundreds of human lives and deaths had also become intricately tied to its fire-eating mouth.

Noorjahan Bose was born in 1938 to a farming family in Katakhali Village, then part of British India. She was a young child during the partition of India, witnessing several waves of riots. She became active in progressive politics as a teenager in East Pakistan, a province of the newly independent Pakistan. At age 17, she fell in love and married a young dynamic politician only to find herself widowed and pregnant at age 18. Defying her in-laws who wanted her to

Agunmukha has changed a lot since those days.

New deltas have replaced many of the older ones I knew. Only the observers of this cruel game of destruction and creation can assess what Agunmukha has given and what it has snatched away.

Nowadays it takes only four hours in a “launch�

102

observe purdah, she moved out of their home with her baby son, taking a job as a resident warden at the high school from where she had recently graduated. By working at the high school, she supported herself, her son, and her siblings through various cyclones and political crises in East Pakistan, and managed to graduate from Dhaka University. She was a young participant in the Bengali language movement in East Pakistan.

In 1963, she married fellow political activist Swadesh Bose, and their inter-faith marriage got them both thrown out of the left political party to which they belonged. In 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, Noorjahan and her family were forced to hide in several villages and eventually travel by foot to India. Noorjahan helped other refugee women in the camps in West Bengal. Returning to a free Bangladesh in December 1971, Noorjahan took a position as a school teacher and was active with many women’s organizations.

After moving with her family to Washington DC in 1974, Noorjahan earned a Master’s in Social Work from Catholic University and worked with several non-profit organizations and municipalities. In 1984, she founded Samhati. Through Samhati, she helped establish Rokeya Shadan, the first shelter for battered women in Dhaka, and later started several eco-empowerment projects in rural Bangladesh. In 1990, Noorjahan founded ASHA, an Asian women’s organization in Washington DC focusing on domestic violence. In 2003, Noorjahan moved back to Bangladesh and became active with the women’s movement there. She visits Katakhali every year. Her memoirs have generated much discussion and several reviews have been published in Bangladesh and India.

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Translation Abyev` This book was translated into Bangla by Jahanara Hasan with assistance from Noorjahan Bose and Monica Jahan Bose.

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Jahanara Hasan Jahanara Hasan has been Samhati’s Joint Secretary for the last 20 years.

She has extensive experience in Bangla/English translation and has taught intensive classes in Bangla to English speakers. She worked as interviewer and translator on a documentary film series entitled Village Women of Bangladesh, which was created by two women filmmakers, Tommy Jones and Helen Devitt, and earned commendations at the Cannes Film Festival. Ms. Hasan also translated a workshop manual developed by Sisterhood Is Global on women’s human rights, which was very effective in helping Muslim women learn how to claim their rights.

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Jahanara Hasan earned an M.A. in Economics in 1968 from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

She worked a Eden Girls’ College, Dhaka, Bangladesh as lecturer in Economics and also taught Economics at Rajshahi Government College (1966-1973) before coming to the United States. In 2007, she initiated Samhati's Eco-Empowerment Project in Natore, in northern Bangladesh. She splits her time between the US and Bangladesh, spending several months of the year overseeing the Natore program.

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Photography d‡UvMÖvwd

The photographs in Bangladesh were taken by Nandita Ahmed and Monica Jahan Bose. The studio photos of saris and works on paper were taken by Sean Scheidt. evsjv‡`‡ki Qwe¸‡jv Zz‡j‡Qb bw›`Zv Avn‡g` I gwbKv Rvnvb †evm| kvwo I QvcwPÎi ÷zwWI Qwe Zz‡j‡Qb mb kvBU| Photos by Nandita Ahmed (by page number): cover, 15, 17(bottom); portraits on 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 59(top), 60, 62; Sari photoshoot on 69-72; 74-75; 94, 95(top), 96.

Photos by Monica Jahan Bose (by page number): 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 (top), 18-21, 28, 31, 34, 35, 39, 41, 43, 45(right bottom), 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 73, 76-78, 95(bottom).

Nandita Ahmed

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Nandita Ahmed is an artist, designer, and filmmaker. She graduated from Wellesley College with a major in Media Arts and Sciences. She started off her career as a producer/editor for a boutiquesize ad agency based in New York City. She had the opportunity to work on many high-profile accounts including Amazon.com, New York Jets, the French Culinary Institute,and various Condé Nast Publications. Since then, she has started her own agency, Brand Bean LLC, and has expanded her portfolio into nonprofits. She was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh and resides in Brooklyn, New York.

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Monica Jahan Bose is a Bangladeshi-American artist, lawyer, and activist. Her work includes painting, drawing, printmaking, installation, sculpture, and performance, as well as advocacy on women’s issues and the environment. Born in Britain, she has also lived in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Japan, France, and the US. Her heritage is both Hindu (father’s side) and Muslim (mother’s side). She studied art at Wesleyan University and Santiniketan, India and has a law degree from Columbia University. She has exhibited extensively in galleries and museums in the US and internationally, including in Bangladesh, France, Japan, and India. She now lives and works in Washington DC, spending part of the year working in Bangladesh.

She serves on the board of Samhati. She is also on the board of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective.

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In her work, Bose uses the sari, sari blouse, and other garments as metaphors for the female body and spirit, investigating gender, identity, desire, and women’s role as carriers of tradition. She also uses Bangla script as a political act affirming multilingualism and universal literacy.

She has been working on literacy and health projects with the women of Katakhali for 13 years and wanted to collaborate with them on a special project to mark their victory in learning to read and write. Her Words: Storytelling with Saris uses the sari as an art material, a story board, and a garment, merging art and advocacy to celebrate the empowerment of women.

Bus Stop Bangladesh, 2013. Photo Credit: Nguyen Nguyen 106

Selected Exhibitions and Projects Sublime: a performance/installation, DUMBO Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY, 2013 (solo)

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Unwrapped: a performance/installation, (e)merge Art Fair, Washington, DC, 2013 (solo) Layer by Layer: Storytelling with Saris, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Gateway Arts Center, Brentwood, MD, 2013 (in collaboration with the women of Katakhali and Nandita Ahmed) Bus Stop Bangladesh: a performance for Storytelling with Saris, funded by Art Lives Here, Mt. Ranier, MD, 2013 (solo performance/installation) Collapsing Borders, Cafritz Gallery, Patricia Sitar Art Center, Washington, DC, 2013 (solo)

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Her Stories: Fifteen Years of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (curated by Jaishri Abichandani), Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA, 2013 (group) Be/Longing (curated by Brooke Seidelmann and Monica Jahan Bose), Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, Washington, DC, 2013 (group)

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Indelible Scent: Special Project for Art Asia Miami during Basel Week, Curated by Gallery Cosmos, Art Asia Miami, Miami, FL, 2012 (solo performance/ installation)

107

Her Stories: Fifteen Years of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (curated by Jaishri Abichandani), Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, 2012 (group)

Drowning: Is There Time for Love? La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2009 (solo)

Contemporary Voices (curated by Wakilur Rahman), Dhaka Art Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2012 (group)

Reflection/Narration: Where Are We Going? Special Exhibition in Commemoration of International Mother Language Day, U.N.E.S.C.O Headquarters, Paris, France, 2009 (duo with Imtiaz Shohag)

Who Have You Left Behind? Embassy of Bangladesh, Washington, DC, 2011 (solo)

Santiniketan, Atelier Madhu Basu, Bagnolet, Paris, France, 2010 (group)

Speak Your Mind: The Art, Stories and Cultures of Arab and Muslim Women (curated by Tom Block and sponsored

by Empowered Women International), Takoma Park Civic Center, Takoma Park, Maryland, 2011 (group)

101 Artists: Inaugural Exhibition, Dhaka Art Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2010 (group) Water, Love, Language: Fragments of Identity, Galerie Médiart, Paris, France, 2009 (solo)

Juried Member Show (curated by Tom Wolff), Hillyer International Arts & Artists, Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC, 2011 (group)

Summer Flavors, DFN Gallery, New York, NY, USA, 2001 (group)

Pandora’s Box, Ganges Art Gallery, Kolkata, India, 2010 (group)

Tokyo Scenes: Intersections, Balconies, and Interiors, Genkan Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2000 (solo)

Prix Antoine Marin Emerging Painters Prize Exhibition, Galerie Julio Gonzalez, Paris, France, 2010 (group) (one of 12 artists nominated for annual emerging painters’ prize)

Twenty-Third International Art Exhibition, The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 1999 (group)

Open the Door, Dhaka Art Center (in cooperation with the American Center of the US Embassy of Dhaka, Bangladesh), Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2010 (solo)

monica@monicajahanbose.com monicajahanbose.com storytellingwithsaris.com

Tumi Ami: Spring Heat, Galerie Deborah Zafman, Paris, France, 2010 (solo) 108