Rasanbleman | Culture in Place: The Evolution of Haiti Cultural Exchange 2009 - 2022
2024-09-12 - 2024-11-17 | Haiti Cultural Exchange, 35 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, United States
Rasanbleman | Culture in Place: The Evolution of Haiti Cultural Exchange 2009 – 2022; a photography and archive exhibition from HCX programs featuring Mc Alexander Ciceron, Paul Corbanese, Liz Gauthier, Richard Louissaint, Jocelyn McCalla, Keylah Mellon, Tequila Minsky, and Claire J. Saintil.
On view until November 17th, 2024
Haiti Cultural Exchange, 558 St. John’s Pl, Brooklyn NY 11238
Gallery Hours
Thursday – Sunday, 1pm – 6pm
Wednesdays by appointment only

Co-Curated by Steven Baboun and Kassandra L. Khalil
Archival Manager, Micaela Walker
Graphic Design, Kathryn Dreier
HCX is delighted to present our first exhibition in the new Haiti Cultural Exchange Gallery as part of our expanded Vizyon Atistik programming. Rasanbleman | Culture in Place will highlight our community history with those who have captured our story. Rasanbleman | Culture in Place will feature the work of HCX’s documenting photographers alongside vivid moments from our Archive. Through the lens, this group of artists present their core snapshots of the memories, joy, and growing visions for New York’s Haitian culture in action.
Rasanbleman is a gathering – of ideas, of actions, of energies, of bodies – focused and reshaping to share space together. Gina Athena Ulysse describes rasanblaj as an “assembly, compilation, enlisting, regrouping”. When assembling together, how does a community knit moments in time and place to the fabric of collective memory?
Our presence in community is the core of the archive. Ourselves as creators, storytellers, and witnesses are the originating thread. Holding both heritage and evolution, we mark and strengthen our arrangements to contemporary and future visions of our culture.
Rasanbleman | Culture in Place: The Evolution of Haiti Cultural Exchange 2009 – 2022 will highlight our community’s history with those who have helped capture the texture of gatherings in the Haiti Cultural Exchange story featuring the work of HCX’s documenting photographers alongside vivid moments from our Archive.
Through the lens, photographers Mc Alexander Ciceron, Paul Corbanese, Liz Gauthier, Richard Louissaint, Jocelyn McCalla, Keylah Mellon, Tequila Minsky, and Claire J. Saintil interwork their core snapshots of the memories, joy, and the growing visions for New York’s Haitian culture in action. Alongside these artists’ work, Rasanbleman | Culture in Place will present ephemera from Haiti Cultural Exchange’s presenting history, marking pivotal moments in the continued emergence and visibility of Haitian creativity in New York City.
Rasanbleman | Culture in Place builds off Haiti Cultural Exchange’s current digital and print archive initiative. Spanning the period from 2009–2022, Haiti Cultural Exchange (HCX) is highlighting the vibrancy of the Haitian community, culture, and heritage in a printed anthology and web project.
The online digital archive will feature unique documentation of the creative movement in New York City’s Haitian cultural community. View the online archive preview here!

Zarita Zevallos | Uprooted: Haitian Diaspora and Displacement.
2024-09-12 - 2024-11-17
On view now in the HCX Studio is an exhibition by Zarita Zevallos entitled Uprooted: Haitian Diaspora and Displacement
Uprooted: Haitian Diaspora and Displacement explores the impact of ongoing challenges faced by Haitians, particularly in the context of gang violence, financial and political instability. Through visuals and interactive installations, visitors are invited to witness the reality and struggles of the Haitian community forced to flee their homeland in search of safety and opportunity, as they navigate displacement, adapt to new environments, and strive to preserve their cultural heritage. “Uprooted” sheds light on the complexities of forced migration, highlighting the human experience behind the headlines and offering a poignant reflection on solidarity, resilience, and the pursuit of a better future amidst adversity. Recently, over 600,000 people were displaced due to gang violence; and over 12,000 refugee camps currently exist throughout the capital. Drawing on the words of Frantz Fanon “Sometimes the eyes of a nation are opened suddenly, and they see that their entire structure is rotten and that they must begin again.”
On view until November 17th, 2024
Haiti Cultural Exchange, 558 St. John’s Pl, Brooklyn NY 11238

Gallery Hours
Thursday – Sunday, 1pm–6pm
Wednesday by appointment only.
—
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Zarita Zevallos, a Haitian Photographer and Architect based in Brooklyn, New York, is renowned for her distinctive artistic approach. Her work merges hand editing and superimposing photographs of darker-skinned bodies with powerful materials like thread, bullets, glass, and barbwire, among others. Through her art, she delves into themes of identity, gender roles, crimes committed by nations, non-conformism, and political or ideological authoritarianism. Her objective goes beyond denouncing, educating, and raising awareness. She aspires to ignite movement and incite change, pushing the limits of expression and inspiring transformative action through her thought-provoking creations.
