Age 7 Portal,  Rohena Alam Khan, 2022

Opening Celebration:
January 26, 2023, 5:00-8:00 pm | Hedreen Gallery

 Artist Talk with curator Arielle Simmons and Rohena Alam Khan
March 9, 2023, 5:00 pm (reception to follow) | Hedreen Gallery

 Closing Reception:
April 13, 2023, 5:00-8:00 pm | Hedreen Gallery 

Regular Gallery Hours:
Wednesday-Sunday, 1-6 pm

Shaped by Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, Rohena Alam Khan creates as her father once raised his rifle, each layer a battle cry for freedom. Her homage to Phoolan Devi, the Bandit Queen, looms larger than life, honoring bravery against violent and oppressive patriarchy. In Age 7 Portal, she visits her own history, depicting a time after combatting sexual assault as a child, now fiercely equipped with protective companions - weapons, tigers, and water lilies.  

A woman of both modern Bangladesh and the world, Alam Khan engages the revolutionary spirit she was endowed with at birth, inspiring strength for the long fight to dismantle inequity in her interdisciplinary solo exhibition, Rohena Alam Khan: Daughter of Revolution. She’ll open the reception (January 26th, 5pm) with a Bharatanatyam performance that disrupts Muslim Bangladeshi societal expectations as she connects with her own body, in public. 

>> If you can't join us in person on January 26 for the dance performance, you can join us on Zoom here. <<

Rohena Alam Khan

Born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Rohena Alam Khan studied Journalism and Fine Art during her undergraduate years at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Upon embarking on a career as a copywriter at McCann Erickson, she completed another degree in Graphic Design from Raffles International College in Bangkok, Thailand. Tackling a range of social matters including migration, war, patriotism, pop culture, psychology, and politics, her artistic processes include painting, installation and documentary film. Rohena’s paintings have been exhibited in the United States, Thailand and Bangladesh.

^{photo by Janette Casolary}

Arielle Simmons

Galleries Curator, Hedreen and Vachon Galleries
Adjunct Professor, Art, Art History and Design Program 

Arielle Simmons holds a degree in Communications Studies from Emerson College, attended the New England School of Photography, and is a graduate of Seattle University's MFA Arts Leadership Program.  Her French mother and American father raised her surrounded by art and artists in South Carolina. From her parents, she adopted the development and programming of a long-running artistic retreat to a family home in the Jura Mountains of France. Working as a photographer for the past decade, she exhibited in solo and group shows across the country, including: Photo LA, The Light Room, and was a Critical Mass Finalist. Current research includes the ethical praxis of curation and documentary photography as well as the aesthetics and performance of gender.