Haitian art is often interpreted through distorted frameworks shaped by tourism, commercial galleries, and the art market. The Haitian Arts Digital Crossroads (HADC) seeks to challenge these perspectives by uncovering and developing new narratives of Haitian visual culture while supporting the digitization of Haitian art collections across the diaspora. To advance this work, we hosted a conference with workshops and focus groups that helped refine our metadata schema and build our Kreyòl thesaurus.
With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Green Family Foundation, HADC brought together scholars, museum professionals, artists, and cultural leaders for interdisciplinary dialogue and analysis. These collaborations aim to create an ongoing digital version of the “lakou”—a communal space—where participants can continue to examine how major historical and cultural events shape archival practices, artistic traditions, and collective identities. In Haitian Kreyòl, a lakou refers to a shared gathering place within a village or among households. Our Digital Lakou™️ adapts this concept to build a virtual community across institutions, encouraging shared discussion, collaboration, and innovation.
HADC welcomed partners to Iowa and seeks to cultivate a broad network of regional, national, and international collaborators.
