The Story
1.
A political activist was risking his life creating a rebellion.
That's where I got 50% of my DNA.
There were arrest warrants out for him when he got caught smuggling weapons to East Pakistan from neighboring India.
He had no option but to escape from jail.
Soon after, civil war broke.
My dad went to war in Dhaka city with an AK47 and a German Luger pistol.
2.
My maternal grandfather worked in the Defense Ministry in Delhi, British India. In 1947, when riots broke, my grandparents escaped to Pakistan on a train eerily similar to the trains carrying Jews to their deaths during the Holocaust. The horrors my grandparents witnessed during the riot would haunt them for years to come till they experienced new horrors in 1971. My grandparents had settled in Rawalpindi, West Pakistan where my mom was born and raised. It didn't matter though. As soon as war broke out in 1971 thanks to people like my dad, my mom was stuck as a political refugee in West Pakistan. In 1972, she was allowed to fly to Dacca on a Red Cross flight with no belongings.
3.
My parents met in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
War caused my folks to meet.
It was because of 1971.
The year my dad and people like him won us independence.
ROHENA ALAM KHAN
Paint Spatter Analyst
Rohena Alam Khan’s elaborate thought process, practice and research is apparent in her 2D & 3D paintings, video work and detailed installations. Rohena is a Seattle based copywriter and graphic designer with a passion for the creative process. Born and raised in Bangladesh, she finished her bachelors in Fine Art and Journalism from Winthrop University in South Carolina. The ad writer in her makes an appearance in her paintings through the heavy use of typography in the multiple languages she speaks. Rohena paints in many layers and has a special attachment to collaging with found materials. Rohena's art has a deeper focus on social issues plaguing the universe and have been exhibited in galleries of the Carolinas, Thailand, Bangladesh and Seattle. Rohena’s goal is to introduce the world to the thinking process of a modern-day Bangladeshi woman.