Abigail Lapin Dardashti, a doctoral candidate in Art History at the Graduate Center, has organized two related events: the conference Art and Literature in Contemporary Dominican Republic, Haiti, and their Diasporas at the Center for the Humanities, and the exhibition Bordering the Imaginary at BRIC. 

Opening Wednesday, March 14, “Bordering the Imaginary” investigates the complicated relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti—two nations that share a single island. The exhibition features work in a wide array of media by 20 Dominican and Haitian artists, based in both their native countries and in the United States. The artists draw on their experiences of difference, movement, and immigration to create a collective visual narrative that exposes inequalities and stereotypes of race, gender, and sexuality, which have plagued the island since the 15th century.

On Thursday, March 15th, “Art and Literature in Contemporary Dominican Republic, Haiti, and their Diasporas” comprises two panels. The first will address intersections in literature and theater of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The second, a roundtable, will examine issues in curating Haitian and Dominican art in the United States, with special attention to race, gender, and institutional critique. The event will conclude with a keynote lecture by Dr. Sophie Mariñez who will discuss midcentury poetry and activism in Hispañola that transcends national boundaries. The full conference schedule is available here.

[image: Edouard Duval Carrié, Hispañola Saga: El tigere y el congo, 2016.]