We’re at war with Iran now, apparently. The war hawks in power have chosen to escalate in one of the stupidest possible iterations of U.S. aggression, and once again, civilians will suffer for it.
You can’t help but think of that – the echoes of senseless violence – at a group show by the Photographic Resource Center. “My Grandmother is an Altar” is an ode to the three exhibiting artists’ grandmothers, all of whom fled ugly situations in Southeast Asia ranging from war and genocide to an abusive relationship. The exhibit has work by Tarik Bartel, Kannetha Brown and Anhkim Dang, whose respective Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese heritage informs the work in a different way.
For everything these women have gone through, they pose strong and proud for portraits in situ, taken at their homes and with their own belongings. Close-up images of their homes are interspersed with the portraits, highlighting the memories these women keep through family photos, preserving their history with often limited source material.
An altar installation set up by Bartel ties the show together. A vibrant display of oranges, flowers and a family Buddha statue sits below the image of Bartel’s grandmother, lending even more gravitas to the portrait. There isn’t much textual detail about each grandmother’s specific life, but elements throughout the show fill in some gaps. A pool noodle in Brown’s grandmother’s house is wrapped around furniture, showing a quirky but touching act of attention to the kids’ safety. In an artist panel on Wednesday, Brown said she didn’t understand how ridiculous the pool noodle was as a child, but that it hit her after she returned as an adult. Likewise, Brown shared that her relatives sneaked photographs into the refugee camp, fighting to keep every memory they could, and Dang told of how her relatives struggled to talk much about the war, but always said her family was “so lucky” to be among the first to leave Vietnam. It’s details such as this that ground the show in much needed specificity.
But the exhibit keeps its cards close to its chest, and the viewer is left guessing the details of these women’s lives. It would benefit from a bit more explanatory text about their stories. These countries have such different histories – while Thailand wasn’t affected by colonialism, genocide and war like Vietnam and Cambodia, it was home to several refugee camps and acted as a sanctuary of sorts. An exhibition that in many ways builds solidarity through weaving stories together is limited by this lack of detail, running the risk of using too wide a perspective.
Yet to an extent, the photos do speak for themselves – each one mysterious, yes, but also deeply intimate and vulnerable.
“My Grandmother is an Altar” is on view through July 5 at University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge.
Share your own 150-word appreciation for a piece of visual art or art happening with photo to editor@cambridgeday.com with the subject line “Behold.”
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