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.

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