Byenveni Lakay se Lakay, a multimedia Haitian Diaspora art exhibition exploring the concept that home is home; opens with a reception at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) in “El Barrio” East Harlem; on Thursday, February 15, 2024, from 6:30-8:30pm. Free with rsvp. Runs through November 14, 2024. cccadi.org 🇭🇹
Sak Pase?
Byenveni Lakay se Lakay
The show offers an immersive experience, including an intricate and vibrant fabric installation by Steven Baboun, Laurena Finéus and Madjeen Isaac’s elaborate oil paintings, an interactive component from Nic[o] Aziz, Metrès Riva Nyri Précil, Natacha Thys, and Oyasound Project, photography by Daveed Baptiste, along with reflections of sculptures by Tania L. Balan-Gaubert, Fabiola Jean-Louis and Tasha Dougé.
- Nic[o] Brierre Aziz is a Haitian New Orleanian interdisciplinary artist and curator who uses personal and collective histories to reimagine the future. nicbrierreaziz.com or @nicoelganso 🇭🇹
- Steven Baboun is New York artist, photographer, and creative director originally from Port-au-Prince. He performs under the digital persona Marie-Claude. stevenbaboun.com or @stevenbaboun 🇭🇹
- Daveed Baptiste is a Miami New Yorker who works in fashion design, textile design, and photography. @daveedbaptiste 🇭🇹
- Tasha Dougé is a Bronx Haitian artist and activist whose works explores concepts of Blackness and women’s empowerment. @converhsations_ 🇭🇹
- Laurena Finéus is a Haitian Canadian painter who represents Black geographies, maroon thought, and migratory history through landscapes. laurenafineus.com or @laurenafineus 🇭🇹
- Tania L. Balan-Gaubert is a Brooklyn interdisciplinary artist who explores race, transnational identity, culture, and belonging. tanialaure.com or @tanialaure 🇭🇹
- Madjeen Isaac is a Haitian American artist whose practice is rooted in home, communality, and belonging. madjeenisaac.com or @madjeenisaac 🇭🇹
- Fabiola Jean-Louis is a Haitian conceptual artist based in New York who explores the cycle of life and death. fabiolajeanlouis.com or @fabiolajeanlouis 🇭🇹
- Metrès Riva Nyri Précil is a Haitian American jazz singer-songwriter and author based in Brooklyn. @riva.nyri 🇭🇹
- Natacha Thys is a Haitian American lawyer turned abstract artist. She’s a colorist, a spiritual healer through color. natachathysart.com or @natchathysart 🇭🇹
- Oyasound Project (AKA DJ Blaizin) is a Haitian New York DJ who seems to be everywhere lately. @oyasound 🇭🇹
All of these artists are creating the future from their personal and communal past. It’s a bit of a paradox, but Black futurism is rooted in history. Black Futurism is Sankofa brought to life, the West African concept that to create your best future, draw on your past.
Lakay se Lakay
Lakay se Lakay is the theme of the CCCADI’s 2024 focus on the legacy of Haiti in African Diaspora and American culture.
“Byenveni” is Haitian Kreyòl for welcome. “Lakay se Lakay” means home is home. That’s an interesting concept for all New Yorkers, because unless you are Indigenous Lenape, we are all in Diaspora from somewhere else. In New York, just like we do in the Caribbean, we create our own sense of home through extended families of friends and associates. Even the CCCADI is an extended family.
Because New York is a big city, personal identity is important because without it, you’re just another face in a sea of faces. Living in Diaspora is a trip because people are constantly telling you that you are not from here, and asking where you are from. It’s probably true that home is where the heart is, but when you’re in New York, more than anything else, you’re a New Yorker.
The concept of home brings to mind this Haitian children’s song. It is used to teach children to be wary of strangers and stay close to home. The lyrics even include the word “kay,” meaning house.
One of the Great Humanitarian Achievements of All Time
A lot of African American culture has Caribbean roots, and Haitian roots in particular. Haiti was some of the best land in the Caribbean until the colonizers came. Haitian culture was spread all over the Caribbean, including to places you don’t expect, by the turmoil of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804).
Haitians freeing themselves and founding a republic was one of the great humanitarian achievements of all time. But instead of celebrating Haitians for their achievement, Europeans and the United States feared and punished them by refusing recognition and trade to the young country. France demanded and received reparations of about $20-30 billion dollars in today’s money. That and multiple foreign interventions crippled Haiti’s development. Outsiders continue to blame Haiti’s problems on Vodou and the country’s African heritage, but that’s colonial nonsense. Haiti is now home to the most traditional African culture in the Americas. Vodou is a beautiful religion, just like all the other religions. Aside from natural disasters, problems are always brought in from the outside.
The Poto Mitan of African Culture in the Caribbean and North America
A poto mitan is the central pole in a Vodou temple, a peristil. It represents the navel of the universe which is also understood by many other religions around the world. Haiti is the poto mitan of African culture in the Caribbean and North America.
Haiti’s contributions to Latin culture and the culture of the United States are often not recognized. These are just a few of the Haitian influences we have learned about.
Dominican merengue derives from Vodou dans expressed as Haitian meríngue during the Haitian occupation of the Dominican Republic (1822-1844). It followed the Haitian Diaspora all over the Caribbean and remains popular today. [We’re writing this on the island of Ayiti ~ Quisqueya ~ Hispaniola, less than a 100 miles from Haiti.]
Instruments used in Latin music suddenly appeared in Eastern Cuba around the time of the Haitian Revolution. Cuban music got more syncopated which is a signature of African influence. In Cuba, Dahomey and Kongo traditions have been almost completely absorbed into Yoruba tradition. Only some traditional rhythms and dances remain distinct, but most people don’t know the difference.
In Puerto Rico, the Cepedas of Santurce, the first family of Puerto Rican bomba, say their tradition came from a French plantation in Mayagüez, in western Puerto Rico. That’s Haitian. Some people in Northwestern Puerto Rico still speak a Spanish dialect that is greatly influenced by Haitian Kreyòl. In the Old San Juan Cemetery (Cementerio Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis) the chapel in the center of the cemetery is painted pink. That’s a sign of Yewa, the Yoruba orisha of fertility, chastity, loneliness, and death who helps us through the last step in life’s journey. She lives in the cemetery, and comes from Dahomey (Fon) Vodou tradition.
In the Lesser Antilles, zouk derives from Haitian kompa.
In Trinidad, the Haitian Diaspora founded Trinidad Carnival, the “Mother of Caribbean Carnival” which is celebrated around the world today. New York Carnival, the West Indian Day Parade, follows Trinidad Carnival traditions.
By 1810, half of New Orleans was Haitian Diaspora. Place Congo (Congo Square), the African market in Old New Orleans with its drumming, singing, and dancing was one of the beginnings of African American culture. This Haitian Diaspora community of New Orleans later founded jazz which defined New York and American popular culture since the 1920s Jazz Age.
So Haitian culture is important, and the Haitian Diaspora has a lot to be proud of. In the beginning and in the end, Lakay se Lakay. Byenveni.