Steven Baboun is a multimedia artist creating through photography, video, performance, and installation. His work confronts social and political topics in Haiti⏤ from polarizing and controversial issues to elevating the importance of Haitian culture and stories, family history, and immigration, queer rights, and more. Currently, Baboun is the founder and creative director of the creative house, Studio Baboun, based
in Brooklyn, New York.
Canarsie community members: Join Steven Baboun in a collaborative, collective storytelling space for queer Haitians in the diaspora and queer Haitians in Haiti to dialogue about, create through, and imagine and re-imagine the Haitian queer experience and existence. This will be done through intimate educational workshops and artmaking sessions.
If you’d like to participate please email:contact@studiobaboun.com
Robenson Mathurin is a dance artist performing, choreographing, and teaching Haitian Folklore, Contemporary, Modern, Jazz, and Afro-based dance styles. He has toured in the USA, Trinidad, and Taiwan with Compagnie de Danse Jean René Delsoin, based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and has worked with US-based companies including but not limited to Jean Appolon Expressions and Kriyol Dance! Collective. Mathurin has also choreographed for top Haitian artists including Rutshelle Guillaume, Darline Desca, and Roody Roodboy. Now based in Brooklyn, NY, he continues to expand his portfolio and training through programs and residencies including the Mark Morris Teaching Artist Training Program and professional dance studies at The Taylor School.
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Crown Heights community members: Robenson Mathurin’s Lakou NOU project, “Koulè M Idantite M” (My Skin, My Identity in English), is a reflection on the complexity of black identity in different societies and, specifically, as part of the immigrant experience. “Koulè M Idantite M” invites black immigrant Crown Heights community members to participate in short video-recorded interviews and dance workshops, comparing their experience of blackness in their home countries, and their experience of blackness in their Brooklyn neighborhood, answering the question: what does being Black mean to me?
If you would like to participate in the interviews or dance workshops please email: mathurinrobenson3034@gmail.com
Sherlee Skai is a world music singer-songwriter bringing a unique sound, shaped by multicultural influences from Haitian folklore to American jazz and soul. Based in New York where she graced the stages of Harlem Week, New York Marathon, and more, Sherlee Skai’s music celebrates her origin and culture and shares her vision as an immigrant and a woman standing in front of life. Currently working on her second album, Sherlee Skai is using her music and voice as tools to bring awareness about social justice issues, notably immigration policies in the U.S.
Flatbush community members: Sherlee Skai is looking for community members who would like to participate in a workshop series where immigration social activists first share their experience and knowledge. Then, in a collaborative storytelling process, participants write songs that incite long term community engagement. Participants’ contribution will shape Sherlee’s final performance: A concert “Conversation Through Music” that will present songs, poetry, and dialogues centering the Black migrant experience to raise awareness about the need for better immigration policies in the US.
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If you’d like to participate please email: sherleeskaimusic@gmail.com
Lalin St. Juste is a Haitian-American singer/songwriter, producer, and co-founder of arthouse label 7000COILS. Commonly described as “hypnotizing” when she performs, Lalin’s music includes exploration of identity, the power of rewriting narratives, and the nuances of intimacy in our relationships. Possessing a firm belief that the personal is political, Lalin is inspired by her Haitian lineage and the African diasporic experience.
East Flatbush community members: Lalin St. Juste’s Lakou NOU residency will foster a multi-faceted sonic exploration of language and identity within the Haitian-American community of East Flatbush as a pathway for deeper community building, healing, and celebration.
If you would like to participate please email: lalinstjuste@gmail.com
Lakou NOU 2022 Artists in Residence – Haiti Cultural Exchange added by Caribbean American Weekly on
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