Water | A Saturday Convening

The Earth, the Fire, the Water, and the Winds: For a Museum of Errantry with Édouard Glissant unfolds as four Saturday convenings, featuring invited artists whose practices engage Glissant’s thinking, their collaborators and communities, and special musical guests. These programs respond to earth, fire, water, and winds through dialogue, shared poetics, and polyvocality.

We gather for water on Saturday, April 11 at 4pm, considering diaspora, fluidity, creolization, migration. A member of CARA’s curatorial team opens the afternoon with a reading from Édouard Glissant’s work.

FORGOTTEN LANDS brings together multi-genre writers Chenée Daley and Yaissa Jiménez alongside percussionist Okai Musik. Through poetry, music, and movement, the artists explore water as a vessel for memory and trace intimate connections across Caribbean geographies. Conjunto Coqui de Las Mariquitas, a queer and trans salsa collective, concludes the day with a performance that holds migration and kinship in sound.

FORGOTTEN LANDS has emerged as a leading force in contemporary Caribbean art, serving as a vital platform that amplifies voices across the diaspora and launches the careers of emerging artists. Their mission centers on illuminating the often-overlooked narratives of the Caribbean while weaving together the region's rich historical tapestry.

Founders Cory Torres Bishop and Don Brodie initially conceived of FORGOTTEN LANDS as a benefit exhibition in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. What began as an immediate response to environmental disaster has evolved into a dynamic 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Today, FORGOTTEN LANDS forges meaningful collaborations with artists, galleries, institutions, and brands to create transformative projects spanning exhibitions, community events, artist talks, publications, and beyond.

Chenée Daley is a Jamaican-born, New York-based multi-genre writer whose work spans poetry, prose, and song. Rooted in tender narratives of personal histories, her writing explores the intersections of place, memory, and exile. She has received first place in the University of the West Indies Writing Prize and the Small Axe Review Caribbean Writing Prize, as well as a Denis Diderot [A-I-R] fellowship from Château d’Orquevaux in Ardenne, France. She has twice been awarded the Catwalk Art Residency and was shortlisted for the Eddie Baugh Poet Laureate of Jamaica Prize.

Her work has appeared in American Chordata, BOMB, Forgotten Lands, Small Axe Journal, The Cordite Review, The Jamaica Observer, and The Wall Street Journal. She holds an MFA in Writing from Columbia University.

Yaissa Jiménez is a poet, performer, writer, and screenwriter addicted to observation. Her first book of poetry, Ritual de la papaya, was published in 2018. As a performer, Jiménez has presented her poetic shows in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and across New York City, in venues such as the Performing Arts Center (PAC), Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), IATI Theater, and El Puente, among others. Notably, her performance Blindada: Poems of Protection—a poetic show combining drums and dance—has been presented at Harvard University, Wesleyan University, and other institutions. Her poems have been published in Forgotten Lands, Periódico UNAM (Mexico), and The Los Angeles Times. She is a 2021 winner of the Salm Petry Continental Cup, Abya Yala, Copa América, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and she obtained her MFA from New York University’s Creative Writing in Spanish Program in 2022. Her most recent invitation from the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid gave her the opportunity to present her new poetic production Moyetaje.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York to Haitian parents, Okai is a world-traveled percussionist, M.C., and producer who has captivated audiences globally with his extraordinary talents. With a deep-rooted passion for rhythm, Okai embarked on his musical journey as a percussionist, mesmerizing and healing listeners with his captivating beats. His rhythmic expertise has taken him to North, Central, and South America, Japan, and Africa.

Okai's dedication to his craft knows no bounds. He has immersed himself in the rich tapestry of rhythms from the African diaspora, mastering Bomba on the Barril drum from Puerto Rico, Rumba and Son from Cuba on Congas, Vodou rhythms from Haiti on the Rada and Petwo drums, Cumbia and Bullerengue from Colombia on the Alegre drum, and West Africansee rhythms on the Djembe drum, among others. His passion for exploring and preserving these diverse musical traditions showcases his commitment to honoring and sharing the cultural heritage and history of these communities.

Las Mariquitas is New York’s Queer and Trans Salsa band, a political liberation project. Las Mariquitas celebrates the community of LGBTQIA+ salseres by creating an affirming, safe space. Las Mariquitas shares the stage with queer and trans dance leaders, embracing a culture of consent on the dance floor. Las Mariquitas works to honor the legacy of salsa as liberation music by writing new queer and transfeminist songs for the canon.