ART! Spaces That Hold Us – Bhen Alan

SPACES THAT HOLD US, Artwork by Bhen Alan, Providence Public Library’s spring exhibition, will be on view in the Joan T. Boghossian Gallery, 3rd Floor beginning March 24 through June 3, 2025 daily during the Library’s open hours. The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, March 29 from 1 – 3:45 pm.

SPACES THAT HOLD US explores how Filipino-Americans in Providence, Rhode Island, and surrounding areas shape their cultural identity within unexpected, everyday spaces. From Asian grocery store aisles, ice cream shops, university parks, apartment kitchens, dining tables to intimate community gatherings — Filipino-Americans claim these locations as cultural hubs, transforming them into places where heritage, community, and identity converge. These spaces may not be formally designated for cultural expression, but they have evolved into powerful sites of belonging and self-definition. Here, the mundane becomes meaningful. These spaces serve not only as reminders of the Philippines, but also as symbols of adaptation and pride, embodying the dynamic nature of Filipino-American culture.

This exhibition stems from Bhen Alan’s Interlace Grant Project, Interwoven Crossroads: Celebrations, Dreams, Sacrifices, and Struggles of Filipinos in Providence where it presents a series of banig installations and storytelling spaces. Each banig highlights a Filipino/Filipino-American life and story transformed into symbols, patterns, and images then embroidered, woven, or painted to a mat. These oral histories offer intimate glimpses into the challenges, dreams, and aspirations that shape the community. They are woven together, and reveal the community’s resilience and its commitment to fostering a space where Filipino/Filipino-American identity is both celebrated and continually redefined.

Bhen Alan

Bhen Alan (b.1993) is a visual artist, dancer, and educator raised in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Philippines. He grew up dancing traditional folk and cultural dances to preserve their culture. He immigrated to Toronto, Canada, when he was 17 years old before settling in the United States.

In 2019, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Certificate in Collegiate Teaching in Art and Design at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2023. He was a U.S. Fulbright scholar of 2022-2023 in the Philippines, where he researched and worked alongside master weavers of indigenous tribes in 14 different islands.

Alan has exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Cue Art in New York, Praise Shadow Gallery in Brookline, Massachusetts, 808 Gallery at Boston University, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Hunter Gallery in Middletown, Rhode Island, EIK Gallery at Yale University, Culture Lab LIC in New York, the Providence Public Art Library, St. Botolph Club Foundation in Boston, John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto, Canada, Shockboxx Gallery in California, Providence Art Club, Bowersock Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the New Bedford National Historical Park, and many more. He organized the first Filipino Heritage Festival during the 2022 PVD Fest in Providence, Rhode Island. He has received awards such as the Emerging Artist Award and Mary Shannon Award for Public Art at St. Botolph Club Foundation, Boston, MA, Emerging Artist Award from Real Arts Award, 2021-2022 RISD Graduate Commons Grant, and UMass Dartmouth Summer Research Grant.

This project was funded in part by the Interlace Grant Fund and The Williams-Watrous-Couper Fund at Hamilton College.

Opening Reception

SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1 – 3:45 PM
JOAN T. BOGHOSSIAN GALLERY (3RD FLOOR)

Join us in celebrating the opening of Bhen Alan’s exhibition Spaces That Hold Us! This event will take place in the Auditorium Lobby and Joan T. Boghossian Gallery, 3rd Floor.

We invite you to gather to share Filipino food, learn techniques in traditional mat weaving, and hear from artist Bhen Alan in this reception to honor Filipino/Filipino-American stories of migration, belonging, and community. 

This event is free and open to the public; registration is appreciated, but not required. https://provlib.libcal.com/event/14183098.