Voices of Haiti: A Post-Quake Odyssey in Verse
Thursday, July 26
Discussion at 7:00 p.m. Performance at 8:30 p.m.
Free; pre-registration encouraged
A panel discussion, “Using Art for Social Engagement”, will begin at 7 p.m. The panel features 2012 Guggenheim Fellow and poet Kwame Dawes, photographer Andre Lambertson, David France (filmmaker of “How to Survive a Plague”) and Patricia Finneran (Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and Fund). Pulitzer Center Executive Director Jon Sawyer moderates.
This program is now sold out. An on-site waitlist will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the auditorium entrance. Every effort will be made to accomodate you, although we can make no guarantees.
Alex, 17, lives in Haiti with HIV. “I would like to sing, but to make a song, I need to feel it inside myself. Sometimes I need to be happy. When I am happy, I can make a song.” Photo by Andre Lambertson
The initial shock of the earthquake has passed, but Haiti continues its struggle to overcome both man-made and natural disasters. Voices of Haiti is poet Kwame Dawes's multimedia exploration of the earthquake through the lives and voices of Haitians confronting the ongoing consequences of this disaster, especially those living with HIV/AIDS. The performance features Dawes, composer and musician Kevin Simmonds, soprano Valetta Brinson, and the photography of Andre Lambertson.
The performance grew out of a year-long Pulitzer Center commission to report on HIV/AIDS in Haiti after the earthquake, with Dawes, Lambertson, and Lisa Armstrong. While in Haiti, Dawes wrote poems in response to the stories he heard. These poems are at the heart of Voices of Haiti. The project also encompasses reporting featured in USA Today, The New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, and PBS NewsHour.
Voices of Haiti premiered at the 2011 National Black Theater Festival. It has also been performed in Haiti and Miami. More information and full bios of the participants can be found here.
Learn more about this reporting initiative, After the Quake: HIV/AIDS in Haiti