Artist Talk - YEAY YAI: An Ode to Grandmothers

The Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism is pleased to present YEAI YAI: An Ode to Grandmothers at the Gallery at City Hall, on view October 17th, 2024 - January 13th, 2025. Making their debut as co-exhibitors, Kannetha Brown and Tarik Bartel explore memory and resilience through photographs of their Southeast Asian grandmothers and their homes. Kannetha’s Cambodian grandmother (‘yeay’), and Tarik’s Thai grandmother (‘yai’), share similar journeys as women who navigated the complexities of separation, abuse, and the search for identity amidst displacement following the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Genocide. Together, they weave vibrant histories of love and survival, revealing how the echoes of their grandmothers resonate today.

Host or Publisher Kannetha Brown