Lakou NOU 2024 Artists-In-Residency Program

Description

Lakou NOU 2024 Artist-In-Residence call for applicants is open until August 9th!

About the Lakou NOU Residency:
In rural Haiti, the Lakou communal living system embodies the intersection of land, family, and spirituality. Former enslaved people created the Lakou in resistance to the racial and clas divides perpetuated by colonial plantations. By organizing around shared land, the Lakou promotes economic equity and avoids exploitation. Lakou NOU (“Our Yard” in Haitian Creole) is a creative adaptation of this traditional model. Haiti Cultural Exchange invests in artists of Haitian descent, positioning their creative talents as resources within local collective commons. They deepen community-led activism, build on neighborhood strengths, and unite diverse stakeholders around mutual aims.

Established in 2016, the Lakou NOU artist residency supports the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Canarsie, East Flatbush, and Flatbush – diverse communities home to generations of Haitians and Haitian Americans. Over the course of nine months, Lakou NOU artists-in-residence generate work collaboratively with community members. Residency projects join a long legacy of Haitian artistry tackling the socio-political issues with which Haitians contend, such as connection to traditional practices, forced migration, foreign occupations, and revolution.

Artist Benefits:
• A $7,500 stipend for development, implementation, documentation, and evaluation of projects.
• Professional development/mentorship activities aimed at building tools and skills necessary for community-engaged artistic practice.
• An opportunity to become more acquainted with assets and issues in Brooklyn’s Haitian communities.
• Access to a network of other artists, community leaders, and local organizations, including meetings with our Lakou NOU Community Stakeholders Committee.
• An opportunity to further develop artistic practice through the creation of new work.
• A platform to showcase work to members of the Haitian diaspora and their diverse Brooklyn neighbors.
• A chance to develop professional skills through production, promotion activities, public speaking, networking, and working in group settings.

Lakou NOU Application Period:
• Application Portal Open –– Monday, July 8 – Friday, August 9, 2024 at 11:59pm EST
• Applications reviewed by committee –– August 2024
• Finalist interviews — August 18-24, 2024
• Recipient Artists Announced — September 2024

Details, requirements, and application methods are available here: https://haiticulturalx.org/programs/artists-opportunities/lakou-nou/