Last Thursday on May 1, the first day of Haitian Heritage Month we gathered at Haiti Cultural Exchange’s Culminating Lakou NOU Expo Showcase to celebrate the close of a transformative residency cycle, filled with community connection, storytelling, and a shared vision of possibility. The expo, held at HCX’s space in Crown Heights, featured installations, performances, and presentations by the 2024 Lakou NOU artists-in-residence.

As one of this year’s resident artists, it was both an honor and a joy to present alongside such powerful voices. Each Lakou (“yard” in Haitian Kreyòl) representing neighborhoods across Brooklyn, including Flatbush, East Flatbush, Crown Heights, and Canarsie, offered a distinct lens on Haitian identity, memory, and futurity. The expo became more than a showcase; it was a vibrant gathering of intergenerational exchange, diasporic storytelling, and collective dreaming.

My project, in partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library’s Canarsie Branch at Avenue J, reimagines the Haitian marketplace and Tap Tap culture through STR.DST.MRKT.: a mobile concept space that serves as a studio, gallery, and shop. At the expo, elements of this evolving work were shared through visuals, objects, sound, and live activations by collaborating artists Christopher Leveille, Natou Ma'at, and Montina + Rasin Okan.

Visitors moved through interactive installations, vivid photo documentation, video interviews, paintings, altars, a mobile map, and community-sourced ephemera presented by me and my fellow residents — Laurie Zami Germain, Watson Mere, and Stephanie Pierre. We laughed, shared food and drink, and reconnected through art.

I am forever grateful to my Lakou NOU peers for showing up so fully in their practices and in community, and to Haiti Cultural Exchange for stewarding this space with care, vision, and deep love for our people.

Though the expo marked the close of the residency, the work is far from over. May the seeds planted throughout this journey, through workshops, exhibitions, and neighborhood activations, continue to take root and bloom in the hearts of those we’ve touched.

Check out the showcase until May 10 and follow/support Haiti Cultural Exchange for all things Haitian in Brooklyn!!

+ `See event photos and connect to the artists on the STR.DST.MRKT. page
+ Learn more about the Lakou NOU 2024 program and participating artists

Follow along on Instagram at @str.dst.mrkt and stay tuned for more.