My Grandmother is an Altar
Lesley University
The Vandernoot Gallery at Lesley University Hall
05.31.25 — 07.05.25
Opening Reception: May 31st, 5-7PM
Artist Panel (moderated by Audrey Sands, Associate Curator of Photography at Harvard Art Museums): June 18th, 6:30PM
My Grandmother is an Altar is a visual prayer stitched from the threads of memory, matriarchal wisdom, and diasporic longing. Through photography, film, and altar work, Southeast Asian-American artists Tarik Bartel, Kannetha Brown, and Anhkim Dang offer reverence, devotion, and witnessing of their Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese grandmothers—women who carried the weight of war, displacement, and survival with fortitude. Transforming grief into sanctuary, and memory into monument, the artists honor lullabies sung across oceans, the warmth of kitchens built from exile, and elders, named and unnamed, whose love and labor became the architecture of future generations. These stories do not fade—they burn, they bloom, they build anew and remind us to resist the ongoing devastation of empire and colonialism. This exhibition is fully sponsored by Digital Silver Imaging.
More information here.
Read more in New England Art News.
Image Captions:
Installation views, a sitting area was created with traditional Southeast Asian chairs and prayer mats, which are often used for religious or food purposes. This area doubled as a place to view Anhkim Dang’s film “Confessions of a Cool Girl.”
Installation views, Kannetha Brown’s photographs, from A Familial Stranger
Installation views, Anhkim Dang, “Confessions of a Cool Girl” experimental film paired with archival photographs, artifacts and animation slides used in the film.
Installation views, Tarik Bartel’s photographs paired with altar in honor of Tarik’s grandmother (yai).
Altar by Tarik Bartel, offerings included various Southeast Asian fruits, incense, a Buddha that Tarik’s yai came to America with, phuang malai (Thai ceremonial marigold garland), Thai and Palestinian scarves, etc.
Interactive altar wall: viewers were invited to write letters to their elders and pin them upon red string (traditionally blessed and worn for protection in Buddhist cultures) that is laid on top of prayer mat.
