New exhibition shows the importance of Miami’s historic Little Haiti neighborhood

There was something about Little Haiti that Edouard Duval-Carrié couldn’t escape.

It was the beginning of the 1990s and the Haitian artist decided to move from Paris. A canceled flight allowed him to spend some time in Miami and Little Haiti, of all places, it simply enchanted him. He loved that everyone spoke Creole. He loved seeing the towers of the Caribbean Market. He loved that he felt at home. Within two years, Duval-Carrié purchased the same studio he currently occupies almost three decades later.

“I felt like it was the only place in the world that had Haiti attached to it, other than Haiti itself,” said Duval-Carrié, surrounded by a towering bookshelf and his artwork. He never predicted the gentrification that would begin in the early 2010s – “I said ‘I’ll be in the ghettos for the rest of my life,’” he joked, “And that’s the idea I loved” – and has since begun to destroy the city’s identity. neighborhood. Or maybe he did – just unconsciously. “I would tell other Haitians that you should invest here.”

Duval-Carrié is one of many artists featured in the new exhibition “I Am Little Haiti”, which seeks to reframe the narrative of the historic neighborhood. On display from May 11 to August. Presented on the 10th at Green Space Miami, the exhibition combines essays, mixed media art, photography and videos to demonstrate not only the multifaceted history of Little Haiti, but also spark meaningful conversations about its future amid ongoing changes.

“There is a need for people who see the importance of Little Haiti to come together not for their own personal gain, but because what they have been given needs to be protected,” said exhibition curator and Miami Herald photographer Carl-Philippe Juste . The exhibition’s title itself, he added, is a statement rooted in “the perpetual existence of this space.”

Juste has a unique personal connection to Little Haiti. It was her father, Viter Juste, who moved to Miami in 1973 and coined the name “Little Haiti”. The senior Juste also played a very active role in Miami’s fight for immigrant rights, founding the Haitian Florida, the first local newspaper for the growing Haitian community, and successfully advocating for the children of undocumented immigrants to attend public schools.

And thanks to Duval-Carrie, young Juste was able to rent part of the artist’s studio in 2007, effectively giving him a voice in the changing neighborhood his father worked so hard to help build.

“Many Haitians are being expelled because they don’t have long-term leases,” Juste said, later adding that Haitians alone “can’t save Little Haiti.”

The exhibition thus embodies one of his father’s greatest philosophies: although Little Haiti provided a somewhat familiar environment for many immigrants to start over, the neighborhood is still just one part of the rich tapestry that makes Miami such a magical place.

“My father understood that Miami was cosmopolitan,” Juste said. “It was a unique place. It was not an American city. It did not belong to the United States; belonged to the world. If Cubans could have Little Havana, Haitians can have Little Haiti. He understood coexistence – that we are not blending into a soup, but more like a salad. We have our distinct ingredients and these ingredients needed to be valued.”

Still, it’s no secret that the area’s Haitian population has steadily declined as prosecutors strike. Some aspects made Little Haiti quite desirable: its proximity to popular neighborhoods like the Design District and Wynwood; high altitude above sea level; cheap land. Small mom-and-pop shops began to relocate due to rising rents. Younger relatives began selling their family homes to start over somewhere else. Even the future of the beloved Caribbean market has recently been in question. The result: Little Haiti’s Haitian population fell by a third between 2000 and 2020, according to the latest Census data.

“I Am Little Haiti,” the final chapter of a multi-year initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation through Florida International University’s Commons for Justice: Race, Risk, Resilience ProjectIt thus seeks to unite the disparate elements that make the neighborhood more than just a set of streets and structures.

“It’s not about saying, ‘Hey, go in and destroy these historic and iconic structures,’” said Rebecca Friedman, director of FIU’s Public Humanities Lab, who helped curate the exhibit. “But yeah, ‘Even if you try, we’ll still be here.’ And the us in this may not be limited to Haitians – it’s them and their allies.”

But places are important: as visitors walk through the gallery, they can read about the importance of Toussaint Louverture Primary School, read about the importance of Chef Creole, read about the importance of Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church.

“These are very real things,” said black Miami historian Nadege Green, referring to the potential loss of Little Haiti’s iconic structures. Green has written an engaging essay that intertwines Creole and English while chronicling her childhood at Notre Dame, an experience that helped lay the foundation for her work. Miami-Dade black, a multimedia historical archive. “It’s important not just what’s happening to the neighborhood, but the need to archive those memories, who we remember, how we remember.”

The other elements of the show serve as a time capsule of sorts. There is a collection of various decorations that immigrants brought from Haiti to remember that nostalgia has always played an important role in the neighborhood’s existence. Duval-Carrié’s portrait of Toussaint Louverture titled “Toussaint en Saumon” pays homage to the revolutionary spirit of Haitians. And the collection of photographs, many of which show the faces of the community, portray the people who give the enclave its rhythmic heartbeat.

“Little Haiti is a gift to Miami-Dade County,” Juste said. “It’s a place where Haitians can escape persecution and be in a place where their past and present are valued.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Exhibition “I Am Little Haiti”

WHEN: noon – 6pm, Wednesdays – Sundays, May 11 – August 10

WHERE: Green Space Miami, 7200 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

TICKETS: Free

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