Bridging the Connection

Governors Island Arts Organizations in Residence

Bridging the Connection

September 25, 26, 27 & October 2, 3, 4, 2026

11:00 AM–5:00 PM

16 Nolan Park, Governors Island, New York, NY 10004

Opening Reception: Saturday 26, 2-4pm

Organized by Bangladeshi American Artists Forum (BAAF)

Curated by Kaiser Kamal and Kyoko Sato

Artist-in-Residence from Japan: Nobuko

Exhibiting Artist:

Arthur Azad | Alma Leya | Barkia Azam | Bishwajit Chowdhury | Bonnie Astor | Dina Zaman | Dipa Debnath | Farhana Yasmin | Kaiser Kamal | Kaniz Husna Akbory | Kazol Anthony Das | Kyaw C Maung | Mohammed Hassan Rokon | Nobuko (Japan) | Ruddro Md Ayudh Jahangir | Salma Sinha Kaniz | Sazada Sultana | Shinobu (Japan) | Sherry X Chen | Shameem Subrana | Sujit Kumar Saha | Syed Azizur Rahaman | Tajul Imam | Tariq Julfiker | Zebun Nesa Kamal

Each year from May through October, more than two dozen arts and cultural organizations activate the historic houses on Governors Island through the Governors Island Arts’ Organizations in Residence program. The program provides a unique platform for artists and cultural organizations to present free exhibitions, public programs, workshops, and artist residencies in one of New York City’s most distinctive cultural settings. Over the next decade, New York City and the Trust for Governors Island plan to expand this seasonal initiative toward year-round permanent homes for cultural organizations on the Island.

Against this extraordinary setting between the waters of New York Harbor and the city skyline, the Bangladeshi American Artists Forum (BAAF) has been presenting Between River and Harbor: Stories That Carry Us, a multidisciplinary cultural program exploring migration, memory, identity, belonging, and the ways stories travel across generations and borders.

This fall, curated by Kaiser Kamal and Kyoko Sato, the program transforms one of Governors Island’s historic houses into a space of encounter—a place where personal histories, ancestral memories, artistic practices, and different cultural perspectives can meet and resonate with one another.

The title Bridging the Connection evokes the movement of people, ideas, memories, and cultures. Rivers carry stories from one place to another, while harbors have historically served as points of arrival, departure, exchange, and transformation. In this context, the harbor becomes a metaphor for New York itself: a city shaped by generations of migration and by the continuous exchange of cultures from around the world.

Through this exhibition, artist residencies, educational activities, and public programs, BAAF will explore how stories—personal, ancestral, and imagined—are carried through time. The participating artists consider how cultural memory can be preserved while also being transformed through new environments, new relationships, and new generations.