The Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) is pleased to announce the exhibition of a recent major acquisition, Sultana’s Dream, a portfolio of 27 linotypes by the Indian-American artist Chitra Ganesh. On view in MAG’s Lockhart Gallery from February 28 through June 14, 2020, Sultana’s Dream (2018) was inspired by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s early 20th-century story of the same title. The prints both illustrate elements of the text and use its imagery and themes to explore urgent topics of the political present.
Hossain’s 1905 short story begins in reverie: “One evening I was lounging in an easy chair in my bedroom and thinking lazily of the condition of Indian womanhood.” The narrator soon is led on a dreamlike stroll through Ladyland, a utopian matriarchy where women have harnessed the power of the sun to live prosperously and efficiently. Education and compassion for refugees are paramount, and men remain indoors in domestic spaces. Ganesh literally interprets certain moments from this pioneering work of feminist science fiction: the opening scene in the easy chair, for example, or a military battle won by wielding an inventive solar weapon. Other images describe and build upon Ladyland’s architecture and environment, further elucidating the vivid atmosphere that Hossain created.
Far from merely illustrating Hossain’s text, however, the portfolio, in Ganesh’s words, “connects with problems shaping 21 st -century life: apocalyptic environmental disaster, the disturbing persistence of gender-based inequality, the power of the wealthy few against the economic struggles of the majority, and ongoing geopolitical conflicts that cause widespread death and suffering.” Like much of Ganesh’s work, Sultana’s Dream engages these subjects through the lens of history, literature, and mythology not only to examine the relationship between imagined and lived worlds but also to consider how utopian fantasies might be realized.
Sultana’s Dream is presented as part of MAG’s Season of Women in celebration and commemoration of the 100 the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Throughout the Season, which includes Women’s History Month, MAG will prominently feature the work of female artists recently acquired for the permanent collection in four exhibition spaces to honor those who led and participated in the longest social movement in American history.