Haiti Cultural Exchange (HCX) hosts the 2024 Lakou NOU Culminating Expo Showcase, at 6pm on Thursday, May 1, at Haiti Cultural Exchange (located at 558 Saint Johns Place, Brooklyn, New York). This week-long exhibition (April 27 – May 4) “presents the artists’ work in conversation with each other, highlighting their distinct approach to unpacking stories and experiences to cultural preservation in Brooklyn.”
The 2024 Lakou NOU Culminating Expo exhibition and Showcase event highlight four expressive and collaborative projects that seek to empower, understand, and archive the Haitian experience. This cohort of artists explore core themes of personal and collective history, identity, and creative empowerment in Brooklyn’s Haitian community.
Through oral history, creative cultural mapping, multimedia and visual art installations, Lakou NOU artists-in-residence Tania Balan-Gaubert, Laurie Zamí Germain, Watson Mere, and Stephanie Pierre welcome us into a dynamic experience highlighting the power of storytelling, documentation, and cultural narrative.
May 1st’s showcase event will offer the public a chance to meet the cohort and experience their interactive projects. The night will also feature an original monologue performance of “Modern Ancient Entity” by Watson Mere, musical performance by Raskin Okan, custom leather belt studio by artist Christopher Leveille, a group Usui Reiki energy healing session with Haitian master reiki healer Natou Ma’at, and a Q+A with the 2024 Lakou NOU cohort.
[. . .]Unlike traditional artmaking, where an artistic creation amplifies a sole perspective, Lakou NOU residents generated their projects collaboratively with community members, providing creative outlets to convey inner experiences and share histories that are rarely shared or often under-presented. The Lakou NOU Culminating Expo will include visual art installations, audio soundscapes, participatory workshops, spoken word and musical performances, and an interactive map.
Established in 2016, Haiti Cultural Exchange’s Lakou NOU artist residency program provides artists of Haitian descent with the opportunity to create and present new work by connecting their skills and talents to historically underserved Brooklyn neighborhoods, home to generations of Haitians and Haitian-Americans: Crown Heights, Canarsie, East Flatbush, and Flatbush. [. . .]
Artists’ Projects:
Tania Balan-Gaubert – Canarsie: Lakou NOU artist-in-residence, Tania Balan-Gaubert, has developed STR.DST.MRKT. (pronounced Stardust Market) – an innovative mobile creative platform inspired by the vibrancy of the Haitian marketplace and the dynamic spirit of Tap Tap vehicles. Combining elements of a hands-on studio, gallery, and concept shop, this project reimagines public spaces as hubs for creativity, cultural exchange, and community engagement. This nomadic marketplace showcased artwork and crafts, an exhibition, and hosted pop-up workshops that amplified the talents and stories of Rasin Okan, Natou Ma’at, Christopher Leveille, and Tania Balan-Gaubert. Rooted in the principles of accessibility, equity, and cultural resilience, STR.DST.MRKT. aligns with broader movements for social and economic empowerment, offering a tangible model for creative engagement that transcends traditional gallery walls.
Laurie Zamí Germain – Crown Heights: Lakou NOU artist-in-residence, Laurie Zamí Germain immersed us in LAKOU SEKRÈ // SAKRE, an altar to the queer Haitian experience in Crown Heights. The participatory, oral history installation is inspired by el secreto abierto, or the open secret ~ a phrase coined by Rosmand King to articulate the ways that queerness is the Caribbean moves as something seen but unsaid, resulting in a mandate of discretion around what is perceived as culturally transgressive approaches to love and sexuality. LAKOU SEKRÈ // SAKRE makes undeniable what hides in plain sight in terms of the queer diasporic Haitian experience: the laughter, the love, the invisibility, the tension, the tenderness, the care, the things that our Lakou’s house but often refuse to home. The installation denies that refusal through an embodied encounter with the open secret, and the invitation to step into its embrace and listen to the life worlds alive within.
Watson Mere – Flatbush: Lakou NOU artist-in-residence, Watson Mere will present a multidisciplinary project titled Yon Nouvo Rèv is comprised of interconnected pieces spanning visual arts, video, and performance art developed from community interviews rooted in his residency’s focal theme: Haitian spirituality and its relationship to the modern-day Haitian, particularly those living in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Mere’s video piece features interviews with six Haitian narrators from Flatbush and Brooklyn, offering diverse perspectives on their relationships with Haitian spirituality, particularly Vodou. These conversations provide an intimate look at how Haitian spirituality permeates identity, whether openly embraced or quietly embedded in the subconscious. This documentary is paired with “Potomitan”, Mere’s large scale painting inspired by the central pillar of Haitian Vodou temples that go by the same name, which serves as a conduit for the Loa to enter the physical world. Throughout his residency, Watson explored the potomitan’s significance as a spiritual gateway and the painting symbolizes the magnitude and gravity of these portals. Mere’s final piece – “Modern Ancient Entity” is a four-minute dialogue in which the protagonist grapples with his Christian upbringing and the persistent presence of the Loa, who reveal themselves in his dreams and daily life.
Stephanie Pierre – East Flatbush: Lakou NOU artist-in-residence Stephanie Pierre will debut highlights ofRoots to Routes, a digital map that follows the story of Haitian social action movements that have taken place in East Flatbush, identifying the physical locations related to those movements as well as the organizations that were involved with those movements as well. The Roots to Routes installation ledgers through the lens of the first generation Haitian American locating a mosaic of information, connections, and materials to build a mere snapshot of community history. Amassed microfilm periodicals from well-known Haitian and New York publications covering these incidents and movements, map illustrations of historical sites and community resources, and key snippets from event specific media, ephemera, and a very Haitian American playlist embody the blending of Haitian and Brooklyn culture formed during that time offer context before leading to a space of remembrance for the 15th year anniversary of the Earthquake in Haiti, the 25th anniversary of Patrick Dorismond’s murder and the 25th anniversary of the March on Brooklyn Bridge.
For additional information please contact: kassandra@haiticulturalx.org. Details available at https://haiticulturalx.org/event/lakou-nou-culminating-expo-showcase/
Haiti Cultural Exchange (HCX) hosts the 2024 Lakou NOU Culminating Expo Showcase, at 6pm on Thursday, May 1, at Haiti Cultural Exchange (located at 558 Saint Johns Place, Brooklyn, New York). This week-long exhibition (April 27 – May 4) “presents the artists’ work in conversation with each other, highlighting their distinct approach to unpacking stories and experiences to
