HCX RASIN LAKAY | FANM
We are proud to announce that we are offering another round of grants through our HCX RASIN LAKAY OPEN CALL for 10 artists of Haitian descent in NYC and Haiti to create and present new work to be shared via the HCX online platforms. Artists of all disciplines are invited to apply for a one-time grant of $500 to create and share original work. In 2021, we will select artist projects in alignment with our current theme “FANM”. Topics such as womanhood, gender/sexuality, environment, and generational leadership will guide curation and artist selection. Priority will be given to female, femme-identifying and queer artists.
We encourage imaginative use of social media to express yourselves and bring people together. Examples include but are not limited to: short films, photography, virtual workshops series (how to make X, dance with me, drum with me, paint with me, etc.), seminars, talks, live music performances, creative writing, spoken word, poetry, or performance art.
Haiti Cultural Exchange will accept short applications on a rolling basis until this funding is expended. If you would like to reach us, email is best: info@hcx.qadracreatives.com – we look forward to hearing from you.
In solidarity, The HCX team
2021 HCX RASIN LAKAY ARTISTS
Mikaelle Cartright is a Haitian American performing artist and fledgling philanthropist based in NYC. Her music ranges from soft rock to the Blues, Jazz, and Soul. In addition to singing, she plays guitar, writes music, embroiders, and crafts elaborate headpieces. Although music is her passion, her desire to help others is intensifying day by day as she finds herself expanding towards philanthropy.
She is currently in the research phase of creating a program she believes will greatly assist non-profit organizations with the implementation of early-childhood education programs, peer-to-peer mentorship, and eco-volunteerism programs.
Pascale Faublas lives and works in Haiti. After a three-decade prolific artistic career, PASKAL asserts herself as a visual artist in the landscape of contemporary Haitian art. Pascale has developed her own language, using mixed techniques acquired as an autodidact by creating collages of printed paper or fabric, ink, and acrylic, batik, scraping, sewing, monotype, mixed media. Her approach is based on the search for materials from its environment and on the principles of the art of recovery.
In a process that is both playful and poetic, and inhabited by Vodou culture, her works explore memory, myth, and spirituality. Individual and collective history meet to highlight a political word and develop poetics of forms.
Paskal’s art has been shown both in Haiti (Galerie Jerome, Galerie Monnin, French Institute of Port au Prince, French Alliance in Jacmel, Centre d’Art, Musée du Pantheon National/MUPANAH, Kolektif 509) and abroad (Paris, Nantes, Suresnes, Guadeloupe, Barcelona).
Find out more about Pascale’s work by following her channels: Instagram
Veroneque Ignace is a curating performance artist, cultural activist, and community-based public health researcher who uses ethnographic tools, performance work, research, and public health understanding of program planning and evaluation to facilitate growth, racial equity policies, an orientation toward socio-political community development at non-profits, grassroots groups, large arts institutions. Ignace is dedicated to achieving her long term goal to seamlessly combine her passion for Haiti, people, and dance in such a way that allows for large-scale healing.
The Flatbush, Brooklyn native often uses dance and writing to merge her passion for public health and global health. With her movement she hopes to complicate methods to social change and health equity, connecting spiritual balance and self-understanding to modes of recovery and restoration. She says, “my movement codifies a history and language which I have inherited. In Haiti dance and music become the guardians of tradition. Everywhere though, dance and music, together are expressions and I need them to communicate.”
In 2016, Ignace founded Kriyol Dance! Collective, a collective of artist-leaders, to incite the unapologetic voices of Black arts, and Haitian culture in particular, through collaborative and unified work and intervention. In 2018, she began actively building an archive for Lakou Societe St. Michel Archange. She is an alum of SUNY Downstate School of Public Health.
Find out more about Veroneque’s work by following her channels: Website
Love Soulèy is a Haitian American director, photographer, and storyteller born in Miami, FL. Her work explores the themes of Haitian ancestral knowledge and culture, feminine energy, birthing, communal healing, returning to the earth, Remomery, and sound. Her desire with her art is to cultivate holistic spaces that help people reconnect deeply to themselves, each other, and their lineage. She currently works in film distribution and is a partner in Film Girls Social Club, a platform dedicated to supporting womyn working in the film and photo industries.
Find out more about Love’s work by following her channels: Website
Jessica Saintvil Ulysse is a first-generation Haitian American dancer, educator, and choreographer who grew up in Queens, NY. A graduate of Lehman College, Ms. St. Vil received her B.A. in Mass Communications and Dance. She continued her training on scholarship with the Alvin Ailey School’s professional division. She has worked with choreographers (Christopher Huggins, Martial Roumain, Marcea Daiter, and more); performed with several dance theater companies (Feet of Rhythm, Joan Peter’s Dance Company, and Vissi Dance Theater, and National Ballet Folkloric of Haiti). Jessica has collaborated with Unimix films to choreograph a short film (“One More Try”) and their award-winning feature film (Forever Yours). She was honored by the National Museum of Women and the Haitian Embassy in recognition of her choreographic work. Jessica is the artistic director of KaNu Dance Theater, a co-founder of Danse Xpressions ”Center for the Arts”. She is featured in Dance Portal, an ongoing exhibit providing instruction in traditional Haitian dance at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan with her work “Let’s Dance”. She recently choreographed an original dance drama, “Zatrap,” written by playwright Jean Claude Eugene. Currently, Jessica is on the faculty of the Alvin Ailey School’s Professional Division teaching Dunham-based techniques and is also a Teaching Artist with various Arts in Education programs throughout New York City. Miss St. Vil is currently enrolled as a 3rd-year certification candidate with the Institute for Dunham Technique and Certification.
Find out more about Jessica’s work by following her channels: Instagram
2020 HCX RASIN LAKAY ARTISTS
Steven Baboun is an artist and photographer from Port-au-Prince, Haiti and based in New York City. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Film and Media Arts and a minor in Education Studies at American University in Washington, DC. He’s currently an MFA Photography student at Parsons School of Design with an anticipation degree completion date of August 2020. Baboun creates through photography, installation, video, and performance art. His work explores diverse social issues within the Haitian community such as queerness, race and social class, politics, religion (namely Vodou and Catholicism), and multi-cultural identities. Baboun presents to the world the complexities of Haitian society and how Haiti is an incubator for innovation, creativity, and storytelling. His works have traveled to Haiti, New York City, Los Angeles, China, Miami, and South Korea.
Find out more about Steven’s work by following his channels: Instagram | Website Watch Steven’s Artist Talk for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Daniel “Dadi” Beaubrun is a composer, songwriter, producer, engineer and musician. His unique musical style blends traditional Haitian Vodou rhythms with rock, pop and blues which is known as Racine(roots) music. This distinct Racinesound is evident in the three albums written and co-produced by Daniel Beaubrunfor Boukman Eksperyans: “Vodou Adjae,”1992 Grammy Awards nominee for “World Music Album of the year”“Kalfou Danjere,” and “Libète Pran Pou Pran l” Daniel has performed and collaborated with recognized artists. Today, Dadi is producing a number of talented young upcoming artists under his label Dadisound Productions while finishing his upcoming new album.
Find out more about Dadi’s work by following his channels: Instagram | Facebook | SoundCloud View Dadi’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Fritz Bernardin is a Haitian musician, composer and educator. Stage-named Benviola, Fritz is recently featured in the award-winning documentary, Serenade for Haiti, and is currently completing his first album which blends historic Haitian rhythms, classical influences, and contemporary sounds to reflect the diversity of Haiti’s musical culture and identity. He is also a tenor section leader for the Canterbury Choral Society in NYC.
Find out more about Fritz’s work by following his channels: Instagram | Facebook View Fritz’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Sabine Blaizin‘s work focuses on the exposure and pleasures of African diasporic music. Brooklyn Mecca, Cumbancha, and Oyasound are a few of her creative projects. Over the years, DJ Sabine’s mainstay and cultivation has been the monthly event Brooklyn Mecca which has been coined the home of “Grassroots Dance Culture”. Sabine worked for Ocha Records label as a Brand Marketing Director/Producer and Bembe NYC Party resident DJ. She was also the resident DJ for Subrosa’s signature monthly party Cumbancha featuring African inspired rhythms of House, Soul, Latin music and more. In 2018 Sabine was a resident DJ for Fania Records’ Fania Collective. Today, she curates a party at Le Bain NYC called Rekolte: A Night of Haitian Roots & House. She is also a resident DJ for House of Yes NYC and Onda Mundial Mexico.
Find out more about DJ Sabine’s work by following her channels: Instagram | Website View Sabine’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Andre Eugene was born in downtown Port-au-Prince in 1959. He is a leading figure in the artists’ collective known as Atis Rezistans and a broader movement known as the Sculptors of Grand Rue. Eugène fused the fetish effigy with an apocalyptic MTV futuristic vision. Much of his work is figurative using human skulls for heads and imbued with a bold sense of irony, sexuality and humour. In 2006 Andre Eugène contributed to a large-scale collective sculptural work, which is a permanent exhibit at the International Museum of Slavery in Liverpool. His work has been shown at the Muesum of Ethnography, Geneva; at the Parc de la Villette, Paris; the Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles; Nottingham Contemporary, UK and at the Grand Palais, Paris. H
Okai Fleurimont is a vocalist/percussionist who embodies all the music of the African Diaspora. Brooklyn born with Haitian descent, Okai’s cultural background shaped him into being the full round artist he is today. He is Currently the lead singer and percussionist of Brown Rice Family who won “The Battle of the Boroughs” in NYC in 2012. Okai is also co-founder of Strings N Skins who are currently finishing an album to be released in the fall. He is an active percussionist in New York always sharing his voice and energetic rhythms. Okai has had the pleasure of performing before audiences at Brooklyn Museum, the legendary African art auction exhibition at Sotheby’s, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall and venues throughout the States.
Find out more about Okai’s work by following his channels: Instagram | Website View Okai’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Rejin Leys is a mixed media artist and paper maker based in New York, whose work has been exhibited at such venues as Centro Cultural de España, Santo Domingo, DR; Kentler International Drawing Space, NY; Queens Museum, NY; and Les Ateliers J.R. Jerome, PaP, Haiti. Her work is in the collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Yale University, and Rutgers University Caribbean Studies Department, and she is a recipient of a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Find out more about Rejin’s work by following her channels: Instagram | Facebook | Website View Rejin’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Richard Louissaint is a first-generation Haitian-American filmmaker and photographer from New York City. Growing up in Queens, he was exposed to a wide spectrum of the Caribbean diaspora but was primarily influenced by Haitian and African-American culture. His work centers on people of color, especially those of Haitian descent, through portraiture, film and documentaries. His work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, and most recently at the Wyckoff House Museum. His films have screened at the Haiti Film Fest, New York Short Film Festival, and Newark International Film Festival. Richard also holds a MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College.
View Richard’s work here. Find out more about Richard’s work by following his channels: Instagram | Facebook | Website View Richard’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Coralie Noisette With a mission to grow, and a lover of love, Coralie Noisette is a self-taught artist of Haitian descent, born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. In 2013, she decided to buy a one-way ticket to Haiti for a new chapter in her life that allowed her to connect with her Haitian roots. Since then, Haiti has enabled Coralie to further tap into her creative spirit though its rich culture, natural beauty, and mystic energy. As an artist and poet, she seeks to understand the connection between the spiritual and physical realms, with an underlying theme of self-exploration. Her painting style is inspired by optic art and color therapy, playing with the viewer’s vision and illustrating the intricate layers of what one would deem as “reality”. The original short poetic proses that Coralie writes, and which often accompany her artworks, are driven by her quest to make sense of some of life’s impenetrable questions. Through self-examination and confronting our shadows, we gain better awareness of who we are and our place in the world. Through her art, Coralie hopes to awaken the viewers’ eyes, minds and spirits to the infinite possibilities of the universe.
Find out more about Coralie’s work by following her channels: Instagram | Facebook View Coralie’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Joanne Petit-Frère addresses the human body as a site of beauty and adornment. Drawing on various African Diaspora traditions, Old American Western movies, the photographs of Cindy Sherman, the history of Haiti, and a range of other sources, Petit-Frère makes films, drawings and labor-intensive tapestries and sculptures that involve weaving by hand sometimes with eight or more colors of synthetic hair. Many of Joanne Petit-Frère’s wall-works and sculpture are activated by performance. Petit-Frère enlists performance as a means by which to think about our bodies and those of the people around us. At a moment in which human touch and presence in society is increasingly charged, Petit-Frère’s artwork reveals human beauty and form, the power of identity, and the shifting currents of social dialogue.
Find out more about Joanne’s work by following her channels: Instagram | Facebook View Joanne’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Jeff Pierre was born and raised in Port-au-Prince Haiti, grew up in his mother’s traditional Haitian and dance company JAKA where he fell in love with the drums. He now travels the world sharing the beauty of Haitian culture.
When he plays music he feels more connected with the universe. It was this connection and curiosity that pushed him to explore and pursue the world of electronic music. Jeff’s goal is to elevate each other by creating beautiful and loving music to make the world a happier place to celebrate life.
Find out more about Jeff’s work by following his channels: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube View Jeff’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Darnelle Champagne and Wynnie Lamour are educators based in Brooklyn, New York who share the love of creative storytelling and connecting children and their families to Haitian culture through their heritage language of Kreyòl Ayisyen. As co-founders of the Haitian Creole Language Immersion Program for children known as Jaden Timoun, Darnelle and Wynnie have created a space where families can have concrete hands on experience in song, movement, art and other activities. Their Krik?Krak! storytelling coupled with vivid colorful imagery bring original stories to life, while visually and physically engaging their audience. Darnelle and Wynnie have hosted several storytelling events including ones at the Wyckoff House Museum in Brooklyn, New York.
Find out more about Jaden Timoun by following these channels: Instagram | Facebook View Jaden Timoun for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Glenda Lezeau was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2011 after having a mental breakdown that led to her hospitalization. Since then, she has felt it deep in her heart to share her story with hopes of empowering and educating others. With that in mind, she became a mental wellness advocate and started Rising from Bipolar. Rising from Bipolar is a platform featuring inspiring messages about mental health based on Glenda’s personal journey.
Glenda is a proud Haitian-American who loves konpa dancing. She is a musician and a Haitian Creole Language Educator.
Find out more about Glenda’s work by following her channels: Instagram | Website View Glenda’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Pierre-Richard Raphael (Pyelila) is a young Haitian visual artist, specializing in Illustration, Photography and Graphic Design. Since his childhood, he had deep interests in Haitian folklore and fantasy. Which has always shaped his art into a tool used to tell every beautiful story Haiti has to tell. After his Art studies at Ecole Nationale des Arts (ENARTS) in Port-au-Prince, he embarked on a freelance career in visual art. This, has given him a form of freedom that he uses to delve into the illustration of many aspects of the Haitian heritage that need a voice.
Find out more about Pyelila by following his channels: Instagram | Facebook View Pyelila’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
Youry Vixamar is passionate about music. Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he began piano lessons at the age of 10. At 15 years old he learned to play the trumpet. In 2000 he began his musical studies at Haiti’s National school of Arts (ENARTS) he started drumming (tanbou) with the famous singer, composer and drummer Sanba Zao. His career began in 2002 with Sanba Zao in Djakata band. In 2003, he played in the choir of St. Jude (Meyotte), Brothers Posse, Fabienne Denis Ayizan and Tru Rasta . In 2007 he joined Paul Beaubrun’s band, Zing Eksperyans. Starting in 2011, he began a solo career in collaboration with DJs such as Gardy Girault, DJ Stuba, DZgot, Jeff Afrozila, Boddhi Satva, Dead Fresh Nunas onstage and more.
Find out more about Youry by following his channels: Instagram | YouTube View Youry’s work for HCX Rasin Lakay here
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