SAYA Youth Explore Asia Society Museum's South Asian Diaspora Art Exhibit

By Omar, 12th grade

SAYA took a trip to the Asia Society Museum to see the Lucid Dreams and Distant Visions: South Asian Art in the Diaspora exhibit. After visiting the Museum I was pleasantly surprised by how different every piece of art was and the diversity of the artists themselves. What stood out to me most was Anila Quayyum Agha’s "Crossing Boundaries". Hanging from the ceiling was a cube with a design which was carved into it through the use of lasers, which closely resembled designs used in mosques and stained glass in churches. There is also a light in the middle of the cube which projects an image across the room. Agha began creating this type of art after her mother died and it is called "Crossing Boundaries" due to the fact that growing up in Pakistan, women generally don't go to mosques for prayer. So she made this to symbolize a space where everyone is welcome. Agha's son got married around the same time her mother passed away so this intricate design carved into steel symbolizes dealing with a tough and good moment at the same time. This was my favorite art piece throughout the entire exhibit and I thoroughly enjoyed the museum as a whole.  

By Abdul, 12th grade

I along with members of the Young Men's Leadership group traveled to the upper east side last week to explore the Asia Society Museum. It was a great experience to see all the pieces of art that represented Asia as a whole. The diversity of the artwork was something that I really appreciated. Although the amount of art was nothing compared to a museum such as the Museum of Moving the Image, I still felt that the various pieces of art were very appealing. One piece that caught my eye was the “Emperor of No Country” done by Jaret Vadera. It expressed the idea of how, before the world split up literally and metaphorically, we were all one without any dictator or ruler. All names of places in the world were crossed out which I personally thought was a simple but clever thing to do. Overall the exhibition was intriguing.