Jean Marc Abelard - 'KAZAL' / Framer Framed 27 May –
21 Aug 2022
Exhibition: KAZAL – Narrating Haitian Memories
KAZAL is a photographic project that traces the memories of the dictatorship of François Duvalier in Haiti through the history of Kazal, a village north of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, where a major event in the contemporary history of the country was perpetrated in 1969 and subsequently obliterated from official history: the massacre of Kazal.
KAZAL: Narrating Haitian Memories (2022), Photo Maarten Nauw / Framer Framed
Over the course of three years, six photographers from the Haitian collective Kolektif 2 Dimansyon (K2D) initiated a dialogue with the inhabitants of Kazal to investigate their memories of places and events. They encountered a troubled history which, to this day, has not yet been acknowledged.
Within the project, photography is the main form of narrating memory. At the same time, as testimony of the past, photography can be a source of historical knowledge; it reactivates the memory of a historical fact and invites reflection. This project functions as a basis to explore how photography remains, albeit, a fragmentary, partial, subjective, polysemous testimony.
The works show an interpretation of reality and trauma that can never be completely grasped in the context of Haiti and a post-Duvalier generation. For this presentation of K2D’s KAZAL project, the show features an additional perspective on memory narration from Haitian artist Tessa Mars. Mars explores the transformative strategies for survival, resistance, empowerment and healing that image-making and storytelling propose.
Artists
Kolektif 2 Dimansyon:
Edine Célestin,
Fabienne Douce,
Reginald Louissaint Jr,
Mackenson Saint Felix,
Moïse Pierre,
Georges H. Rouzier,
& Tessa Mars.
Audio recording
Dumas Maçon
Curator
Nicola Lo Calzo
En créole
A l’occasion de la première exposition du projet KAZAL en Europe au Centre d’Art Framer Framed à Amsterdam, FOKAL et le collectif K2D ont pu revisiter les textes publiés dans le livre et produire des versions audio de ces derniers, en créole, pour rendre plus accessible ceux-ci au public haïtien et particulièrement aux habitants de Kazal. Des informations générales sur le projet sont également disponibles dans la publication française de Framer Framed.
Nous avons fait appel à Gaelle Bien-Aimé, Ketsia Vainadine Alphonse et Miracson Saint-Val afin de lire ces textes. N’hésitez pas à partager ces audios avec votre entourage!
Location
Framer Framed
Oranje-Vrijstaatkade 71
1093 KS, Amsterdam
Opening times
Tue – Sun, 12:00-18:00
Free Entree
Supported by
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap; Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst; Stadsdeel Oost; Fondasyon Konesans Ak Libète (FOKAL).
- Trendbeheer - KAZAL – Narrating Haitian Memories bij Framer Framed
- FOKAL - Vernissage de l’exposition KAZAL à Amsterdam
- Website of Kolektif 2 Dimansyon
Links
Photography / Caribbean / Contested Heritage /
Agenda
Book Presentation: Entangled Species, Conversations on Contemporary Art in the Caribbean
By writer and curator Sasha Dees
Memory Past a Surpassing Disaster
Movie screening of 'Amreeka' followed by a panel discussion
Photography Workshop: How to photograph a memory
By KAZAL photographers Georges Rouzier & Reginald Louissaint Jr. members of Kolektif 2 Dimansyon
Opening: KAZAL - Narrating Haitian Memories
With Georges H. Rouzier, Reginald Louissaint Jr., Tessa Mars & Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken
Network
Tessa Mars
Visual artist
Edine Célestin
Photographer
Fabienne Douce
Photographer
Georges Harry Rouzier
Photographer
Réginald Louissaint Junior
Photographer
Mackenson Saint Felix
Photographer
Moïse Pierre
Photographer
Dumas Maçon
Journalist
