2nd Ghetto Biennale 2011

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ARCHIVED WORK OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS & SCHOLARS

Jakmel Eksperyans: Ivy McClelland

Idantite an Aksyon:

For the 2nd Ghetto Biennale, Jean Elie Gilles and I attempted to facilitate an International Folklore Exchange through storytelling, mask-making, writing and theater workshops that culminated into a live, multi-media performance during the final week of the Biennale.

The project's central theme was the Loup Garou, a werewolf found in Haitian, Native American, Canadian and French lore. In Haiti, the shape-shifting Loup Garou legend often mirrors the social and political struggles of the country's poor and oppressed. Our project used the loup-garou legend to create a dialogue about the erasure and revision of Haitian identity in first world narratives, neo-colonialism, and finally to celebrate Haitian culture and its history of resistance.

With only two weeks to work on the project, we realized that hosting workshops in Jakmel was not realistic. Instead, we commissioned Jakmel artists and actors including: papier mache artist Marcarthur L'amitie and performers Yonel Charles, Miguelita Joseph and drummer Sama Francain to perform our piece. Jean Elie and I came up with 4 questions about the history of Loup Garou and the rise of Loup Garou sightings after the earthquake, Haitian identity and visions for the future of Haiti. We video interviewed about 20 Jakmelians over the course of a week and finally synthesized their responses into a text for a 10-minute performance. Yonel, Miguelita and Sama rehearsed twice before our final performance at the Ghetto Biennale.

Jean Elie and I believed the performance was a huge success and very well received. We had a great crowd of locals and international visiting artists alike. The performance was followed by a question and answer discussion between the audience and our group. There were several interesting questions posed to us including the use of the loup garou metaphor. Finally, I passed around a book for Ghetto Biennale artists and visitors to share stories or images of personal folklore. While our project took on another shape, Jean Elie and I felt that we were able to do what we originally set out to do. www.jakmelekspresyon.wordpress.com
(JE is also on facebook)
www.jacmelworkinggroup.blogspot.com

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Enquiries & questions contact: Leah Gordon at:

Leahgordon@aol.com

ARTISTS & SCHOLARS

A*BOUT A BOOK: Silke Bauer, Irina Novarese & Viola Thiele

Allison Rowe

Anderson Family: Peter Anderson, Clare Cameron, Esme Anderson & Mary Anderson

Anna Bruisma

Candice Lin, Phillip Mayles & Racine Polycarpe

Cary Cronenwett

Cat Barich

Charlotte Hammond