In 1804, Haiti overthrew French colonial control and became the world鈥檚 frst independent Carribbean state and Black-led republic. However, it was forced to pay reparations to former slaveholders and, according to the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, only cleared its 鈥渋ndependence debt鈥 in 1947. Economic hardship and political unrest have continued into recent years 鈥 in 2021, the country recorded the lowest Global National Income in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Haitian-born artist Widline Cadet (b. 1992) migrated to New York at the age of 10 to join her mother. Despite growing up in the USA, she was curious about her heritage. Works such as (Never) as I Was (2021) chart ancestral and intergenerational feelings. Subjects expand to include people on the street, drawing a concurrent line between past and present selves. Cadet says: 鈥淭hat was how strangers entered my work; not as strangers, but as people I imagined I already knew.鈥 Figures manifest as body doubles 鈥 girls in gingham dresses bend toward matching tablecloths, as their limbs are cloned. The effect approaches an optical illusion, encouraging viewers to question perceptions.
Photographs engage in 鈥渃ritical fabulation,鈥 a term used by African American cultural history professor Saidiya Hartman, Columbia University, to describe the combination of historical and archival research. Cadet reflects on this in Take This With You, as compassionate narratives and moments of care replace 鈥渢he violence of the archive.鈥 The result is a vivid and impactful exhibition, forging a link between the body, history and space.
| 24 June – 22 October
Words: Chloe Elliott
Image Credits:
1. Widline Cadet, Nou F猫 Pati, Nou Se, Nou Anvi (We Belong, We be, We Long), (2020).
2. Widline Cadet, Nan Ou, Mwen F猫t Ank貌 (In You, I鈥檓 Born Again), (2021).
3. Widline Cadet, Si Ou Ta Dwe Bliye Wout Lakay Ou (L猫 Tout Limy猫 Yo Etenn) (Should You Forget Your Way Home (When All The Lights Go Off), (2021).
4. Widline Cadet, Nan Let猫nite (In Eternity), (2021).
