KDC HAITI | LAKOU SOCIETE ST. MICHEL ARCHANGE
Officially formed in 1877, Societe St. Michel Archange is a community and spiritual Vodou temple in the capital of Haiti. It is a community hub for the people who live on Rue Magazine de L'etat in Downtown, Port-au-Prince. A true "lakou" - or communal living system based on land, family, and spirituality - Societe St. Michel Archange maintains its age-old traditional practice while also attempting to be a center for community advocacy, change, and shared resource.
The space has been passed down from generation to generation to ensure that it’s practice persist, its community thrives, and its relationship to family and love never ceases to exist. After my father's passing in 2016, I inherited this space and all that comes with it, In 2017, this temple celebrated its 140 year anniversary. In honor of this, I have endeavored to create an official archive documenting Ignace family history, ways of engaging the space, and more. This work is being produced in collaboration with artist-architect Nathalie Jolivert.
The space has been passed down from generation to generation to ensure that it’s practice persist, its community thrives, and its relationship to family and love never ceases to exist. After my father's passing in 2016, I inherited this space and all that comes with it, In 2017, this temple celebrated its 140 year anniversary. In honor of this, I have endeavored to create an official archive documenting Ignace family history, ways of engaging the space, and more. This work is being produced in collaboration with artist-architect Nathalie Jolivert.
The Kriyol Dance! Collective partnership with Societe Lakou St. Michel Archange began unofficially in 2015 through research and community building. To facilitate cultural exchange Societe St. Michel Archange has partnered with Kriyol Dance! Collective to help in creating engagement art tied to increasing advocacy around the reality of life in Vodou, Haiti, and community. Kriyol Dance! Collective uses the language and philosophy of Vodou as taught by the history of Societe St. Michel to discuss trauma and steps to recovery from it. In essence, both Societe St. Michel and Kriyol Dance! center spiritual dance, music, and teaching as prime documents of trauma and historically archived survival strategies. [Learn More Here]