Momentum Award Conversation: Madyha Leghari, Ghazal Mojtahedi, and Bao Nguyen

Momentum Award juror Tae Hwang moderates a conversation with artists Madyha Leghari, Ghazal Mojtahedi, and Bao Nguyen about their artistic practices, creative processes, and the personal experiences informing the work in the Patricia Massey Momentum Award Exhibition. The artists will discuss the work in their own words.

The Patricia Massey Momentum Award supports emerging immigrant visual artists living in Maryland whose work reflects cultural heritage and lived experience. The exhibition brings together two finalists and one award recipient, with the recipient receiving $10,000 and participating in public programming at Creative Alliance. The award is made possible by the McNeely Massey Family.

When: November 12

Showtimes: 6:30–8:00 PM

Moderator: Tae Hwang, a Patricia Massey Momentum Award juror

Artists: Madyha Leghari, Ghazal Mojtahedi, and Bao Nguyen

Venue: Creative Alliance, Main Gallery, 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224

Event type: Artist conversation, exhibitions, and visual arts

Tickets: Free

Registration: Please RSVP through the free RSVP option.

Exhibition context: The related Patricia Massey Momentum Award Exhibition is on view from September 23 through November 14. Its opening exhibition event is listed for September 23 from 6:30–9:30 PM.

Madyha Leghari: Leghari is a Washington, DC-based visual artist, writer, and educator born in 1991. Her interdisciplinary work considers the instability of language and the body, including pregnancy, embodiment, and concepts of the “natural.” She earned a BFA from the National College of Arts in Lahore and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design as a Fulbright Scholar. Her honors include the Folger Artistic Research Fellowship, Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship, Nicholson Studio Residency, Bresler Residency at VisArts, and Wherewithal Research Grant. Her work has been exhibited at the Phillips Collection, Kreeger Museum, Pera Museum, and Karachi Biennale, and has been covered by the Washington Post and Artforum.

Bao Nguyen: Nguyen is a visual and performance artist born in Vietnam and based in Baltimore. Using performance and sculpture, they explore relationships to places that are overlooked, unregulated, or neglected. Their practice develops through movement, creative fieldwork, and conversations with community members.

Ghazal Mojtahedi: Mojtahedi is an Iranian interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Baltimore and a PhD researcher in Human-Centered Interaction. Her work encompasses installation, video mapping, motion graphics, mixed media, and digital technologies, with recurring concerns including memory, displacement, belonging, migration, and the emotional connections between people and places. She transforms everyday objects, domestic materials, and cultural symbols into reflective spaces shaped by personal and collective migration experiences. Mojtahedi holds an MFA in Intermedia and Digital Arts from UMBC. Her thesis, *Hanging Garden and Echo of Home*, received the 2025 Kathy O’Dell IMDA Award, and her films have been screened and recognized at festivals in the United States and internationally.

Run time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Age guidance: Not specified.