We've just returned from a productive and energizing journey to Haiti where we met with over 20 artists and cultural organizations engaged in the often difficult task of creating and promoting the arts in extremely tenuous conditions. We traveled to Haiti with the hopes of building our relationships with artists and organizations to further the exchange of culture between the Diaspora and Haiti. We were heartened to find so many like-minded people working to advance Haitian culture, support artists, and create work that reflects a deep sense of cultural pride and community engagement. We look forward to continuing the dialogue to bring forth new ideas and partnerships.
For the past three years, Haiti Cultural Exchange has worked to create a space for Haitian culture to develop and thrive, implementing innovative programs that reflect our core belief in the power of artists to foster community dialogue and reflection. This guides us all to a more nuanced view of Haiti and Haitians, as well as a deeper understanding of ourselves as individual change-makers in our world.
There is much work to be done both in Haiti and here in New York to continue to support this work. Thank you for being a part of our growing community.
-Régine & Kassandra
In order to pull together ideas and gauge resources, HCX held a roundtable meeting at Le Parc Historique de la Canne à Sucre in Tabarre, Haiti. Representatives and artists gathered and shared possible projects, their goals for collaboration, and welcomed our efforts in Haiti.
From left to right: Harry Luc, Pascale Jaunay, Régine Roumain, Michaelle Saint-Natus, BelO
(not pictured: Elizabeth Pierre-Louis & Syto Cavé)
Following the productive meeting, musician BelO (who we featured this past summer for HCX | Mizik Ayiti) took us up to his hometown of Croix-des-Bouquets along with his manager Harry Luc to visit the site of BelO's future community center where he plans to train, support and offer performance opportunities for the young musicians of the town.
Later in the week, between meetings with artists and other arts organizations, we visitedFOKAL (Fondasyon Konesans
Antonin at the pre-screening of "Gerard Gourgue"
Ak Libète or Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty) to
tour the center and attend the pre-screening of Arnold Antonin's "Gerard Gourgue," a film that documents the tumultuous elections of 1986 and Gourgue's political ambitions and quest for a democratic transition.
Maksaens Denis' installation at FOKAL
As part of FOKAL's annual "Festival des Quatres Chemins", Haitian artist Maksaens Denis created a video media installation featuring several viewing stations aimed at creating a literary and theatrical universe. The montage includes footage from past carnivals, poetry read by literary notables such as Frankétienne, and images of Port-au-Prince.
We also had the opportunity to visit the Ciné Institute in Jacmel. Ciné Institute's co-director Paula Hyppolite guided us around the campus and told us about the organization's plans to expand their facilities to include other disciplines to benefit the students. We sat in on a first-year film class and presented our plans to include some student shorts in our upcoming HCX | Haiti Film Fest 2013.
Mèsi Anpil! Nou ta renmen di yon gwo mèsi a tout moun an Ayiti ak nan Etazini ki te ede fè vwoyaj sa yon siksè. Mèsi pou tan ou, direksyon ou te ban nou, asanm ak tout sipò ou.
-Haiti Cultural Exchange
We also met with some very talented artists and cultural organizations and look forward to developing partnerships. Learn more about their work here...
