In this first iteration of Fall Of The Roman Empire, a collaborative touring exhibition project between Qais Assali and Frankie Symonds, Boston’s place in the colonial history of the United States will serve as a loose metaphor for European colonialism as the current status of The Roman Empire. The main unifying theme of the project is European colonialism’s influence on the world. Intended to be serious and tragic, but also humorously loose and free-associative, this exhibition will take historic Boston-area events and figures, such as the Boston Tea Party, Mayor Thomas Menino, Louise Woodward, the Catholic sex abuse scandal, the murder of Carol Ann Stuart, the Boston Massacre, the Great Molasses Flood, and so on, to create a surreal, fractured narrative that traces back to the Roman Empire’s influence in West Asia and North Africa a few thousand years ago, and its present-day echoes.
Using a variety of media, the artists will use the walls of the gallery as the pages of a contemporary audiovisual history book meant to both disorient and inform the viewer. Sounds, images, and objects emanating from corners of the gallery will call into question the ideal environment for following a historical narrative.
On view: September 26 - November 1, 2026
Opening reception: Saturday September 26, 7 - 10pm
Qais Assali (هم) is an interdisciplinary artist/designer born in Palestine in 1987 and raised in the UAE before returning to Palestine in 2000. Assali taught in Visual Communication at Al-Ummah University College, Jerusalem, Michigan State University, MI, and Vanderbilt University, TN. Recently, Assali joined the School of the Museum of Fine Arts' faculty at Tufts University, Boston, MA. Assali was a 2019-21 Core Fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.
Assali’s work has been exhibited at Hauser & Wirth, NY; Middle East Institute, DC; Station Museum of Contemporary Art, TX; Stamps Gallery, University of Michigan, MI; Toronto Queer Film Festival, Canada; SculptureCenter, NY; Chicago Cultural Center, IL, Glassell School of Arts, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX; Temporary Art Center (TAC), Netherlands; and Qalandiya International, Palestine. Assali is the recipient of Art Matters Foundation grant; Chicago Artists Coalition Spark Grant; Houston Arts Alliance Digital Grant; Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts - Idea Fund; SAIC New Artists’ Society Award; and Palest’In & Out Festival - Plastic Art Prize.
Assali holds four degrees in visual arts from Palestine and the U.S, a BFA in Graphic Design from An-Najah National University 2009, and a BA in Contemporary Visual Art from the International Academy of Art Palestine 2017. Assali simultaneously completed an MFA from Bard College, NY 2019, and an MA in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL 2018.
Frankie Symonds Nasiatka (she/her) is a queer multimedia artist and curator based in Boston. She founded the Shoe Bones art gallery in Salem, MA in 2022.