One of the many projects of Leah Gordon: Kanaval, 2010.
About Kanaval:
Kanaval: Vodou, Politics and Revolution on the Streets of Haiti
Haitian history, and not only that of the revolution, is replayed through the masks, costumes and narratives of the carnival in Jacmel, a coastal town in southern Haiti.
Leah Gordon has been recording the people, masks and costumes of Jacmel’s carnival for the last sixteen years on a 50 year old Roleiicord twin lens reflex camera. In a calmer, more tranquil, times she has met with the carnival performers and collected the stories behind the masks. These are stories of ancestral & revolutionary memories, complex Vodou rituals, political satire and personal revelations. The lives of the indigenous Taino Indians, the slave’s revolt and state corruption, are all played out using drama and costume on Jacmel’s streets.
Exhibited at Fasching, Fasnacht, Karneval, MEWO Kunsthalle, Germany (2014), Les Rencontres Photographiques de Guyane, French Guiana (2014), Médiathèque Intercommunale André Labarrère, Pau, France (2014), Ort Gallery, Birmingham (2014), PHI Centre, Montreal (2013), New Art Exchange, Nottingham (2012), Side Gallery, Newcastle (2011), Riflemaker Gallery, London (2009), Photofusion, London (2009)
About the artist:
Leah Gordon is an artist and curator making work on Modernism and religion; anthropology and post-colonialism; slavery and industrialisation; and class and folk history. Gordon’s film and photographic work has been exhibited internationally including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; the Dak’art Biennale; the National Portrait Gallery, UK; Parc de la Villette, Paris and NSU Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. Her photography book ‘Kanaval: Vodou, Politics and Revolution on the Streets of Haiti’ was published in June 2010. She is the co-director of the Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; was the adjunct curator for the Haitian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale; was the co-curator of Kafou: Haiti, History & Art, at Nottingham Contemporary, UK; on the curatorial team for ‘In Extremis: Death and Life in 21st Century Haitian Art’ at the Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles and will be the guest curator for the 2015 Paris Outsider Art Fair. (texts website artist)
Copyright: Leah Gordon