Ornate / Activate

Event time: Feb. 16 - May 14. Wednesday thru Sunday 1pm to 5pm

Ornate/Activate  examines the use of decorative arts and motifs, architectural elements, scripts, traditional materials, and other forms of pattern-making by artists of South Asian origin to create meaningful and critical content. The exhibition, organized by the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) and curated by Alexander Campos, addresses themes such as inequality stemming from the global economy, loss of language and culture, gender violence, discrimination, segregation, and issues of equality and identity. The artists in Ornate/Activate recognize a need to reclaim tactile and decorative methods of making as a way to address social, political, and economic issues and also to confront the ever-growing presence of technology in everyday life.

Ornate/Activate was first shown in New York, NY at Shirin Gallery in 2015.

The full exhibition catalogue will be on sale at the Villa Terrace throughout the run of the exhibition.

Exhibiting Artists:

Nida Abidi, Fariba Alam, Kamal Badhey, Shelly Bahl, Marcy Chevali, Priyanka Dasgupta, Roya Farassat, Asha Ganpat, Parisa Ghaderi, Zainab Hussain, Monica Jahan Bose, Vandana Jain, Umber Majeed, Radhika Mathews, Indrani Nayar-Gall, Nirmal Raja, Sausan Saulat, Suran Song, Udita Upadhyaya

Exhibition Liaison, Nirmal Raja

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 16th, 2016, 6pm - 8pm

Member Preview 5:30pm - 6pm

Talk by SAWCC Director Monica Jahan Bose followed by gallery walk through by Alex Campos: 6:30pm

From Bangladesh to Brooklyn: Transnational Art Practices

February 17th, 2016 11am Art Center Lecture Hall UWM 2400 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, WI

Monica Jahan Bose will present her recent projects and consider how South Asia enters conceptual frameworks and art practices in the US, and reflect on the impact and interplay of colonization and globalization on the art world in South Asia and the US.

Ornate/Active - Film screening and art performances

Sunday, April 30 starting at 3:00pm

Exhibition “closing” with performances by Udita Upadhyaya and and a reading of Marcy Chevali's work; a screening of Patterns of Interaction, a program of ten artist’s films, curated by Shelly Bahl; and follow-up talk with Ms. Bahl and Negin Sharifzadeh, one of the filmmakers.