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Story: Ivy Jeanne McClelland

Jakmel Ekspresyon International Folklore Exchange

JE International Folklore Exchange for Ghetto Biennale 2011

21 Sept 2011–

For the 2nd Ghetto Biennale, Jakmel Ekpresyon artists Jean Elie Gilles, Ebby Louis Angel and Ivy Jeanne will facilitate an International Folklore Exchange with Haitians and international visitors. The project will consist of gathering stories, mask making, writing and theater workshops, which during the final week of the Biennale, will culminate in the chorography of a live multi-media performance. The central theme of the project will be based in the legend of the Loup Garou, which is a werewolf found in the Haitian lore as well as in Native American, Canadian and French culture.
In Haiti, the Loup Garou represents a shape-shifting character that often mirrors the social and political struggles about the country’s poverty and repression. For the project, the artists will use the loup-garou legend to initiate a dialogue about the erasure and revision of Haitian identity that has been complicated by colonialism and most recently neo-colonialism. Finally through the process of storytelling and a multifaceted process, the artists aim to celebrate the Haitian culture and its history of resistance.

Contributions
Ivy Jeanne McClelland