Overview
Gran Manje (Fat Cats), 1997,40 x 40 in, C-type Lambda prints from scans from black and white medium format negatives
Opening November 9, 2022 is Kanaval, a survey by photographer, filmmaker, curator, collector and writer Leah Gordon that documents twenty years of Carnival in Haiti. Curated by MOCA Curator Adeze Wilford, the exhibition consists of a series of black-and-white photographs taken on a mechanical medium format camera.The images are contextualized by a series of oral histories related by the leaders of various troupes who oversee the design of the costume and generate the narratives surrounding Carnival.Their stories reflect the wealth of invention, fable, and self-generated mythology prevalent in much of Haitian culture. The photographs will be accompanied by a new feature-length documentary on the carnival providing a kinetic counterpoint to the portraits.
About the Artist
Leah Gordon is the co-director of the “Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince, Haiti” and was a curator for the Haitian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale. She was also the co-curator of “Kafou: Haiti, History & Art” at Nottingham Contemporary, UK, and was on the curatorial team for “In Extremis: Death and Life in 21st Century Haitian Art” at the Fowler Museum, UCLA. Gordon first collaborated with MOCA as co-curator of “PÒTOPRENS: The Urban Artists of Port-au-Prince,” presented at MOCA in 2019.
