Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning: "Encounters: South Asian Womxn's Creative Collective" - 4/1-5/15/21

Image courtesy of Labkhand Olfatmanesh and Gazelle Samizay. [Image Description: On a matte black background, a photo lays torn in three sections of a person in a burgundy dress, except the top piece which rests on a person’s wrist.]

Encounters: South Asian Womxn's Creative Collective
April 1–May 15, 2021

In a year defined by great turmoil and deep sorrow, when all forms of symbolic and actual distance, division, and isolation overwhelmed our daily lives and our world, how did we make space for meaningful creativity, connection, and collaboration?

Encounters features fourteen women from the South Asian Diaspora who came together across geographical, cultural, political, and religious boundaries. Working as ‘artist pairs’ and grounded in an ethos of friendship, creative partnership, and community-building, their artworks illuminate shared bonds and histories, reveal personal and political narratives that may have been otherwise unknown or invisible, signal an economy of care, and envision a equitable future in which women thrive.

Artist Pairs:
Rashida Abuwala & Maya Mackrandilal
Anjali Deshmukh & Purvi Shah
Renluka Maharaj & Seema Shakti 
Shreya Mehta & Barkha Patel
Labkhand Olfatmanesh & Gazelle Samizay
Ramya Ravisankar & Marcy Chevali
Sania Samad & Sadia Pasha Kamran

Curator:
Grace Aneiza Ali  

Encounters will be on view online and by appointment at JCAL's Miller Gallery & Community Gallery (161-04 Jamaica Ave). Gallery hours are M-F 10am-6pm & select Saturdays 12-3pm. See jcal.org/visit-the-gallery for more information.