Jamaica arts center showcases works by 14 South Asian women

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Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning partnered with the South Asian Womxn’s Creative Collective for a new exhibit opening in April. Photo courtesy of JCAL

Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning partnered with the South Asian Womxn’s Creative Collective for a new exhibit opening in April. Photo courtesy of JCAL

By Rachel Vick

A Jamaica arts venue will showcase works by 14 women of South Asian descent in a six-week exhibition that opens Thursday. 

The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning has partnered with the South Asian Womxn’s Creative Collective to host “Encounters,” artwork by women who explore human connection during a period of time defined by separation and stress. 

“Underscoring these artistic encounters are works that elevate the voices of generations of women across South Asian communities and address a range of pressing issues weighing on their hearts and minds: displacement and migration; the impact of ongoing traumas of war and gender violence,” said exhibition curator Grace Aneiza Ali.

The artists worked in pairs to develop the projects, which will remain on display until May 15.

“Whether they co-created these works digitally, over many Zoom sessions or through back-and- forth travels through the mail, the artists featured in ‘Encounters’ forged — through distance, separation and time zones — what they deem ‘a radical act of dreaming together,” Ali said.

The artistic duos include Rashida Abuwala and Maya Mackrandilal; Anjali Deshmukh and Purvi Shah; Renluka Maharaj and Seema Shakti; Shreya Mehta and Barkha Patel; Labkhand Olfatmanesh and Gazelle Samizay; Ramya Ravisankar and Marcy Chevali; and Sania Samad and Sadia Pasha Kamran. 

The creators connected across geographic and cultural boundaries to highlight the value of working together. 

“We’re over ‘inclusion' being some buzzword,” said JCAL Interim Executive Director Leonard Jacobs. “Inclusion means providing real-world platforms for the traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised to speak their truth—to meaningfully bend that long arc of history toward justice.”

JCAL is hosting a series of events alongside the exhibit, including Conversations with Artists, creative workshops and performances, throughout April and May. 

The exhibition is open to the public weekdays and select Saturdays by appointment from April 1 until May 15. The collection can also be viewed online.