Anida Yoeu Ali The Red Chador: Becoming Rogue, 2026
Participatory Performance & Installation
Variable dimensions
Presented by Creative Generation Cambodia
Internationally acclaimed artist Anida Yoeu Ali presents The Red Chador: Becoming Rogue as a new participatory experience shaped by the presence of the public.
Born a decade ago in Paris during a surge of Islamophobia, The Red Chador is an iconic figure wrapped in a sequin chador, a full-body garment worn by some Muslim women. After appearing in 15 cities across 7 countries, this iteration arrives in the Bay Area, where Ali transforms a section of the San Francisco Art Fair into a fashion boutique. Visitors are invited to step inside the Red Chador’s luxurious walk-in closet and activate the performance.
First shown at Warin Lab Contemporary in Bangkok in February 2025, Becoming Rogue offers a rare opportunity for audiences to try on a uniquely crafted Islamic garment seldom accessible to non-religious viewers. Participants may select from a rack of tailored chadors made with textiles sourced from open-air markets in Phnom Penh and Bangkok. The public is encouraged to rummage through bold fabrics, choose a piece that speaks to them, and perform by wearing it in the space. Participants may walk, pose, and photograph themselves in a bespoke selfie booth as “covered” cover models for Rogue magazine.
Ali invites participants to set aside judgments, assumptions, and hesitations while inhabiting these garments. Images taken throughout the activation will gradually fill the space, culminating in 99 portraits, a number that references the 99 names of Allah (God). Videos, photographs, neon works, and the original Red Chador will also be on view.
Anida Yoeu Ali (b. 1974, Cambodia) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans performance, installation, new media, and public encounters. Raised in Chicago and born in Cambodia, she carries a mixed Malay, Cham, Khmer, and Thai heritage that informs her exploration of hybrid transnational identity. Her award‑winning projects confront the artistic, spiritual, and political tensions of displacement, often through humor and embodied performance. Ali received the 2024 Arts Innovator Award and the 2014 Sovereign Asian Art Prize for The Buddhist Bug, an internationally recognized series probing belonging and absurdity. Her recent performance series, The Red Chador, examines how Muslim women’s visibility is shaped by contemporary Islamophobia. Ali has exhibited globally, including at the Haus der Kunst, Palais de Tokyo, and the Smithsonian. Based in Tacoma, she co‑founded Studio Revolt and serves as Senior Artist‑in‑Residence at the University of Washington Bothell, teaching Interdisciplinary Arts, Global Studies, and Performance.