Haiti Cultural Exchange

Vizyon Atistik | Collage Workshop with Mel Isidor
2026-06-07 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Haiti Cultural Exchange, 35 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, United States
In this participatory workshop, join exhibiting artist Mel Isidor to discover the art of collage in this engaging, beginner-friendly workshop designed to spark imagination and experimentation. Using a mix of found materials, papers, images, and textures, you’ll learn how to layer and compose elements into a visually compelling piece that reflects your personal memory.
Participants will be guided through a short introduction to the history of collaging and an overview of key techniques and approaches. With guided support throughout, you’ll explore composition, color, and storytelling as you cut, arrange, and assemble your own original collage. Emphasizing creativity, play, and self-expression, this session invites you to loosen up, try new ideas, and enjoy the process of making something uniquely yours.
Register for this workshop here »
Registration includes a complementary beverage & light refreshments.
Limited capacity, RSVP required.

Sunday, June 7
2–4pm
Haiti Cultural Exchange
35 Lafayette Ave. Brooklyn, NY
This event is part of the Vizyon Atistik public programming for What Paper Remembers: Marks, Memory and Labor on view until June 7, 2026.

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About the Instructor

Mel Isidor is a Haitian-American mixed-media artist, designer, and urban planner based between Seattle, WA, and Boston, MA. Her work draws inspiration from the built environment, exploring how cities reveal the relationship between people and culture. Mel holds a Master’s in City Planning from MIT and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Brown University—a foundation that brings a philosophical and analytical lens to her practice, shaping both how she sees the world and how she translates that understanding through to her compositions. Her artistic practice combines photography and collage to create layered compositions that merge realism and abstraction—physically and metaphorically connecting different moments in time and space. Using imagery from her own photography, family archives, and public records, she builds scenes grounded in memory and heritage that reimagine familiar geographies through a speculative lens.
Mel also leads Isidor Studio, her design practice dedicated to the intersections of art, design, and urbanism. Across both her art and studio work, she transforms research and observation into visual narratives that deepen our understanding of place and the everyday materiality that shapes it. Her work has been exhibited across the United States through galleries and public installations in Boston, Seattle, and New Orleans, and she has been invited to speak on her creative practice at institutions including Adobe, Yale University, and the University of Southern California. Learn more about Isidor’s work at www. melisidor.com

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About the Exhibition
Through drawing, printmaking, collage, and mixed media, the exhibition considers paper as a material that carries memory, labor, and cultural continuity. Paper absorbs gesture records pressure and hesitation, time, revision and return, while holding traces of the hand and the persistence of ideas. Centering practices shaped by embodied knowledge and movement across place, the exhibition affirms paper not as a provisional surface, but as one that remembers and endures.
Curated by HCX fellow Yvena Despagne and Executive Director Régine M. Roumain.

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Learn more about the exhibition and artists here »
Join the artists & curators for other activations taking place as part of this exhibition »

Vizyon Atistik | CLOSING RECEPTION | What Paper Remembers: Marks, Memory and Labor
2026-06-07 16:00 - 19:00 | Haiti Cultural Exchange, 35 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, United States
Join HCX for the closing reception of What Paper Remembers: Marks, Memory and Labor on June 7, 2026, presented by Haiti Cultural Exchange, Vizyon Atistik.
Sunday, June 7
4–7pm
Haiti Cultural Exchange
35 Lafayette Ave. Brooklyn, NY
On view from April 25 through June 7
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About the Exhibition
Through drawing, printmaking, collage, and mixed media, the exhibition considers paper as a material that carries memory, labor, and cultural continuity. Paper absorbs gesture records pressure and hesitation, time, revision and return, while holding traces of the hand and the persistence of ideas. Centering practices shaped by embodied knowledge and movement across place, the exhibition affirms paper not as a provisional surface, but as one that remembers and endures.
Curated by HCX fellow Yvena Despagne and Executive Director Régine M. Roumain.
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Featured Artists
Sally Yolaine Binard | Ani Brutus | Jennica Drice | Mel Isidor | Nathalie Jean-Baptiste | Rejin Leys | Julie Rouzier Mevs | Vané Russo
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Learn more about the exhibition and artists here »
Join the artists & curators for other activations taking place as part of this exhibition »

Lakay Foutbòl | World Cup 2026 | Haiti vs. Scotland
2026-06-13 19:00 - 22:00 | Haiti Cultural Exchange, 35 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, United States
HCX is HQ to watch Haiti’s national team Les Grenadiers bring us to World Cup victory!

Hosted in collaboration with Maison Demar, this series of watch parties will feature summer evening kick-backs with cold drinks, great vibes, exclusive product releases by Haitian fashion designers and lifestyle brands.
Grenadye Alaso!

Saturday, June 13: Haiti vs. Scotland
Doors open at 7pm | Kick off at 9pm
Location: HCX, 35 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217

RSVP on Eventbrite & grab exclusive add-ons while availability lasts! »

Join Us for More Watch Parties
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Friday, June 19: Haiti vs. Brazil
Hosted in collaboration with Rooftop Films & Council Member Chi Ossé
Event start TBA | Kick off at 9pm | NO RSVP NEEDED
Location: Von King Park, 670 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216
Wednesday, June 24: Haiti vs. Morocco
Doors open at 4pm | Kick off at 6pm
Location: HCX, 35 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217

Lakay Foutbòl | World Cup 2026 | Haiti vs. Brazil
2026-06-19 19:00 - 22:00 | Haiti Cultural Exchange, 35 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, United States
HCX is HQ to watch Haiti’s national team Les Grenadiers bring us to World Cup victory!

Hosted in collaboration with Maison Demar, this series of watch parties will feature summer evening kick-backs with cold drinks, great vibes, exclusive product releases by Haitian fashion designers and lifestyle brands.
Grenadye Alaso!

Friday, June 19: Haiti vs. Brazil
Hosted in collaboration with Rooftop Films & Council Member Chi Ossé
Event start TBA | Kick off at 9pm | NO RSVP NEEDED
Location: Von King Park, 670 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216

Join Us for More Watch Parties
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Saturday, June 13: Haiti vs. Scotland
Doors open at 7pm | Kick off at 9pm
Location: HCX, 35 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217
RSVP Required
Wednesday, June 24: Haiti vs. Morocco
Doors open at 4pm | Kick off at 6pm
Location: HCX, 35 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217
RSVP Required

RSVP on Eventbrite & grab exclusive add-ons while availability lasts! »

On View: 2025 Lakou NOU Culminating Expo
2026-06-21 - 2026-06-28 | kafou gallery, 1120 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11225, United States
A week-long exhibition featuring the culmination of work from the Lakou NOU 2025 Artists-In-Residence.

On View
Sunday, June 21 – Sunday, June 28, 2026
Kafou Gallery
1120 Washington Ave 2nd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Gallery Hours
Thursday – Friday 6-9pm
Saturday 12-6pm
Sunday 12-6pm

Hosted & Curated by Haiti Cultural Exchange and Kafou Gallery
The 2025 Lakou NOU Culminating Expo highlights four expressive and collaborative projects that seek to empower, understand, and archive the Haitian experience. This cohort of artists explore core themes of care, familial connection, and the Haitian community’s relationship to their homeplaces and the natural world. Lakou NOU artists-in-residence Bo Dautruche, Georgie Exinord, Cici Osais, and Zarita Zevallos welcome us into a dynamic experience of oral history, creative storytelling, and visual art installations.
This free event and week-long exhibition presents the artists’ work in conversation with each other, highlighting their distinct approach to unpacking stories and approaches to cultural preservation in Brooklyn.
Unlike traditional artmaking, where an artistic creation amplifies a sole perspective, Lakou NOU residents generated their projects collaboratively with community members, providing creative outlets to convey inner experiences and share histories that are rarely shared or often under-presented.
Established in 2016, Haiti Cultural Exchange’s Lakou NOU artist residency program provides artists of Haitian descent with the opportunity to create and present new work by connecting their skills and talents to historically underserved Brooklyn neighborhoods, home to generations of Haitians and Haitian-Americans: Crown Heights, Canarsie, East Flatbush, and Flatbush. Lakou NOU artists develop collaborative community engagement projects that address neighborhood issues and highlight community assets. Artists in residence received individualized mentorship from HCX staff and interacted with each other as a cohort through discussion and support around topics relevant to Lakou NOU projects. HCX-facilitated additional professional development workshops and exchanges with a consortium of community stakeholders and creative placekeeping professionals.
Join us for the Expo Showcase on Sunday, June 21, 2026 from 2-6pm.
Details here »
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This program is made possible in part by the Jerome Foundation.

Lakou NOU Culminating Expo Showcase
2026-06-21 14:00 - 18:00 | kafou gallery, 1120 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11225, United States
Join us for an evening of conversation and celebration surrounding the culmination of work from the Lakou NOU 2025 Artists-In-Residence.

Expo Showcase
Sunday, June 21
2-6pm
Kafou Gallery
1120 Washington Ave 2nd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11225

Hosted & Curated by Haiti Cultural Exchange and Kafou Gallery
The 2025 Lakou NOU Culminating Expo highlights four expressive and collaborative projects that seek to empower, understand, and archive the Haitian experience. This cohort of artists explore core themes of care, familial connection, and the Haitian community’s relationship to their homeplaces and the natural world. Lakou NOU artists-in-residence Bo Dautruche, Georgie Exinord, Cici Osais, and Zarita Zevallos welcome us into a dynamic experience of oral history, creative storytelling, and visual art installations.
This free event and week-long exhibition presents the artists’ work in conversation with each other, highlighting their distinct approach to unpacking stories and approaches to cultural preservation in Brooklyn.
Unlike traditional artmaking, where an artistic creation amplifies a sole perspective, Lakou NOU residents generated their projects collaboratively with community members, providing creative outlets to convey inner experiences and share histories that are rarely shared or often under-presented.
Established in 2016, Haiti Cultural Exchange’s Lakou NOU artist residency program provides artists of Haitian descent with the opportunity to create and present new work by connecting their skills and talents to historically underserved Brooklyn neighborhoods, home to generations of Haitians and Haitian-Americans: Crown Heights, Canarsie, East Flatbush, and Flatbush. Lakou NOU artists develop collaborative community engagement projects that address neighborhood issues and highlight community assets. Artists in residence received individualized mentorship from HCX staff and interacted with each other as a cohort through discussion and support around topics relevant to Lakou NOU projects. HCX-facilitated additional professional development workshops and exchanges with a consortium of community stakeholders and creative placekeeping professionals.
Exhibition On View
Sunday, June 21 – Sunday, June 28, 2026
Gallery Hours
Thursday – Friday 6-9pm
Saturday 12-6pm
Sunday 12-6pm
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This program is made possible in part by the Jerome Foundation.

Lakay Foutbòl | World Cup 2026 | Haiti vs. Morocco
2026-06-24 16:00 - 22:00 | Haiti Cultural Exchange, 35 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, United States
HCX is HQ to watch Haiti’s national team Les Grenadiers bring us to World Cup victory!

Hosted in collaboration with Maison Demar, this series of watch parties will feature summer evening kick-backs with cold drinks, great vibes, exclusive product releases by Haitian fashion designers and lifestyle brands.
Grenadye Alaso!

Wednesday, June 24: Haiti vs. Morocco
Doors open at 4pm | Kick off at 6pm
Location: HCX, 35 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217

RSVP on Eventbrite & grab exclusive add-ons while availability lasts! »

Join Us for More Watch Parties
—
Saturday, June 13: Haiti vs. Scotland
Doors open at 7pm | Kick off at 9pm
Location: HCX, 35 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217
Friday, June 19: Haiti vs. Brazil
Hosted in collaboration with Rooftop Films & Council Member Chi Ossé
Event start TBA | Kick off at 9pm | NO RSVP NEEDED
Location: Von King Park, 670 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216

Records & Rhum Day Party with Patrice Espérant
2026-06-27 14:00 - 19:00 | Prospect Park Boat House, 101 East Dr., Brooklyn, New York, 11225
Join Patrice Espérant for an old school day party with vinyl sessions featuring Haitian vintage sounds and rhum. Ayiti cheri, vinyl is alive!
Haitian & French Caribbean Classics
70s · 80s · 90s
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RSVP is required for entry!
Additional admission will be available at the door until capacity is reached.
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Saturday, June 27, 2026
2–7pm
RSVP on Eventbrite while availability lasts! »
