Indigo Arts Alliance’s 2019 Artist in Resident, Sarah K. Khan, will debut her latest print and ceramic works at Cove Street Arts at 71 Cove St. in Portland on Aug. 17. The opening reception for “Pleasure & Defiance” will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., and the show will run through Oct. 7.

Khan will be joined by Siddhartha V. Shah for an artist talk from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Indigo Arts Alliance studio at 60 Cove. St. in Portland. Khan and Shah will be in conversation about Shah’s latest works and how integrating their collective practices can have global impact.

Khan creates multimedia content about food, culture, women and migrants. Her most recent bodies of prints, ceramics and films are inspired by a 15th-16th century cookbook from Central South Asia called “The Book of Delights.” With multiple group and solo shows, Khan’s work has shown nationally and internationally and held in college, museum and private collections. A recipient of fellowships and residencies, most recently a Kohler Arts/Industry, Khan continues create with upcoming residencies at the Women Studio Workshop and Anderson Ranch in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Khan spent 20 years researching traditional ecological knowledge systems of Asia and the Middle East (nutrition, public health, integrative medicine, plant sciences and agro-ecology). She pulls together her multiple skills as a scholar and artist to share her work with a global audience.

Siddhartha V. Shah is the John Wieland 1958 director of the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, where he oversees the museum’s collections, acquisitions, exhibitions and programs, as well as a variety of initiatives aimed at deepening engagement with the community both on and off campus. Fostering intersectional learning and cross-cultural understanding through the arts has long been a guiding principle of Shah’s life and career. That philosophy has shaped his curatorial work, as well as his commitment to education and community engagement, he said. “I aspire to help people see their lives and experiences reflected back at them, through objects and stories from cultures that may be completely different from their own. This is how art helps us better understand ourselves and each other. This is how art can break down barriers to grow and nourish a community.”

Both events are free and open to the public.