Podcast Summary: All Of It — "An Immersive Textile Installation in Socrates Sculpture Park"

Host: Kusha Navadar (in for Alison Stewart)
Guests: Suchitra Maathai (Artist), Caitlin Garcia Maestas (Curator, Socrates Sculpture Park)
Date: May 17, 2024
Topic: The monumental textile installation "We Are Nomads, We Are Dreamers" by Suchitra Maathai, its cultural context, creation process, and impact.

Episode Overview

This episode explores "We Are Nomads, We Are Dreamers," a new large-scale outdoor textile installation at Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, Queens. The conversation with multidisciplinary artist Suchitra Maathai and curator Caitlin Garcia Maestas dives into the inspirations, materials, community connections, and events surrounding the piece. The installation consists of six monumental, pod-like sculptures crafted from thousands of vintage saris, honoring immigrant histories and the diversity of Queens, New York.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Inspiration and Thematic Anchors

• Glacial & Monumental Forms: Suchitra Maathai describes her inspiration as “tectonic plates or these organic, massive forms” (03:17), recalling childhood memories of glacial deposits in Nova Scotia.
• Migration & Place: The park’s waterfront location—on the East River, a historical site for migration—resonated with Maathai’s focus on immigrant narratives:

  “I was thinking a lot about Socrates’s location... It’s on the east river, which leads into the Atlantic Ocean, which is the site of so many migrations... And so these two factors really influenced the project and what I was thinking about.” (03:52)

• Community & Diversity: The installation pays homage to both Maathai’s Indo-Caribbean ancestry and the immigrant-rich community in Queens.

2. The Socrates Sculpture Park Context

• Location & History:
  • The park lies between Long Island City and Astoria, along the East River. Known for its multicultural residents—nearly half of Queens residents were born outside the U.S. (04:38).
  • Originated in 1986 through artist- and community-driven land reclamation:

  “The history really started from an artist. So artist founded, artist driven… a collective act of land reclamation by a group of artists, activists, and community members in the neighborhood.” (05:53)

• Site-Specific Artmaking: All projects, including Maathai’s, are created with the site’s history and community in mind, and often fabricated on location.

3. Creation of the Sculptures

• Materials & Method:
  • Maathai uses an armature covered by handwoven textiles made from vintage saris:

  “I strip the saris and I weave them into a gridded rope net... a collection of bodies and histories and memories... uniting women of the South Asian diaspora, you know, over topography and through time.” (07:32)

  • The mirrored surfaces atop the pods reflect sky, viewers, and movement, underscoring transformation and community.
• Scale of Materials: The scale is immense, involving “thousands and thousands” of recycled saris, sourced from India, friends, family, and communities in New Jersey and beyond (09:03, 09:22).
• Personal and Universal Connection: Maathai has used saris as a signature material for six years, starting with the Sharjah Biennial, finding them powerful as carriers of history, hope, and connection (09:34).

4. Visitor Experience & Interaction

• Visual Impressions: From afar, the sculptures appear as colorful blends; up close, their patterns, textures, and even lingering scents become apparent.

  “Once you get closer and you really look at the textures, you can see the patterns and the designs... Some of them have polka dots... different patterns and multiple colors... The experience that a visitor has changes as you get closer to the work.” (10:08)

  • Public encouraged to “touch them very lightly and gently.”
• Evoking Memory: The recycled saris often retain the sent of previous wearers, further enriching the sensory and historical tapestry (10:08).
• Connection to Queens: Maathai notes the “large Caribbean and Guyanese population” in Queens as both personal and universal inspiration for the work’s themes (12:09).

5. Symbolism of the Pods & Their Reflective Surfaces

• Transformation over Time:
  • The mirrored tops create a changing artwork:

  “Every pod at every moment is changing. You can see different cloud formations... Sometimes you can see yourself... It is very much one with the universe of the park.” (13:50)

  • Monuments not as static memorials, but as living celebrations of immigrant adaptation and becoming.

    “I wanted these to be monuments to immigrants and really to all of us.” (12:47)

6. Migration, Identity, and Hope

• Maathai’s own background—moving among Guyana, India, Canada, and the U.S.—shapes her approach to diaspora:

  “Every time you move, there’s... a kind of strength and courage that it takes to adapt and to be and to find your place. And it’s that experience... that I wanted to cherish and celebrate.” (15:14)

• Title Meaning:
  • “We Are Nomads…” signifies the strength in adaptation.
  • “We Are Dreamers…” highlights hope and longing for a better future:

    “In most migrations, there is a desire and a hope for a better future. And I think that I wanted to capture that... they communicate a sense of joy and a sense of possibility for an equitable future.” (15:52)

7. Dance Activations & Community Engagement

• Performance Integration:
  • Dance performances are planned as part of the installation’s life in the park, notably with the Barka Patel Dance Company (16:45, 17:53).
  • Choreographer Barka Patel brings together various traditions, such as kathak and garba, connecting cultures and generations.
  • For Maathai, dance ensures the pods are “not static... changing, dynamic... part of this process of the living installation.” (17:57)
• Diverse Modes of Engagement: Visitors are encouraged to approach the sculptures in multiple ways—looking, touching, lying beneath them, and watching performances.

8. Outdoor Installation & Experimentation

• Material Innovation: Presenting textiles outdoors (uncommon for sculpture) brings unique challenges and rewards—movement in the wind, interaction with rain, the play of light.

  “It’s been exciting to see even when... it gets really windy... the textiles kind of subtly start to jiggle and move... fibers from the fabric act as tentacles... always shifting and moving with the trees.” (19:04)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the experience of migration:

  “I feel as though I am a nomad in a way... Every time you move, there’s a kind of strength and courage that it takes to adapt and to be and to find your place.” — Suchitra Maathai (15:14)

• On the saris’ significance:

  “I’m uniting women of the South Asian diaspora, you know, over topography and through time.” — Suchitra Maathai (07:32)

• On reflection and transformation:

  “The mirrored surfaces allow the sculptures to change over time... I wanted to create monuments... to the process of immigration, the process of becoming, the process of transformation.” — Suchitra Maathai (12:47)

• On visitor engagement:

  “We’ve already seen so many different interactions. The other day I witnessed a visitor laying down, looking, looking up at the tapestries. And that was a really interesting perspective.” — Caitlin Garcia Maestas (19:04)

Key Segment Timestamps

• [01:42] Introduction to the installation and exhibition details
• [03:17] Inspiration and the pod’s glacial forms (Maathai)
• [04:38] Curator on park location, community, and history (Maestas)
• [07:32] Maathai on weaving with saris, process & meaning
• [09:22] Quantity and sourcing of saris
• [10:08] Textiles’ visual/sensory effect and public interaction (Maestas)
• [12:09] Influence of Queens community on Maathai
• [12:47] The sculptures as transformative monuments
• [15:14] Maathai on her personal experience of migration/identity
• [15:52] The dual meaning of “We Are Nomads, We Are Dreamers”
• [16:45] Dance performances and community events
• [17:53] Maathai on why performance and dance are key to the installation
• [19:04] Curator on multifaceted visitor interactions and organic materiality

Events & How to Experience the Installation

• “We Are Nomads, We Are Dreamers” is on view May 11 – August 25, 2024 at Socrates Sculpture Park, Astoria, Queens.
• Related Free Events:
  • Garden Party: June 12, 6pm
  • Solo & Ensemble Dance Show: July 18, 7pm
  • Closing Reception: August 25

Episode Takeaway

This episode offers a vibrant, collaborative look into Maathai’s textile sculptures, foregrounding the interconnectedness of place, migration, memory, and community. Equal parts artwork and living monument, the installation invites every visitor to encounter and reflect upon the immigrant experience—both in the park’s ever-shifting light and through curated performances, making the art a living part of Queens’ tapestry.