The beige walls of Burling Library’s basement have been transformed into the vibrant world of artist and revolutionary Petrouchka Moïse, assistant professor and cultural- and community-based digital curator. Titled, “My Revolution Will be Televised,” the exhibit is a vibrant maximalist display composed of artwork spanning from 2004 to the present. Broken into four different spaces, Moïse explores themes of family and legacy, loss, self-care and identity through her mixed media artwork.
Moïse describes her style as a totem, with various throughlines that offer a deeper look into her creative process. Her wood paintings are done in accordance with the grain, the color teasing out the story hidden within. She uses canvas to deal with a question and silk to process emotion. Text in her art is directive, faces are reflective and representations of the body are about discovery.
Using the totems and prose that come with each piece, Moïse tells the story of growing up Haitian in America and her family history, the story of her daughter, the story of her struggle against major injury, of owning her own narrative –– and the interconnectedness of all of it.
“My function is to share my journey as an artist. But my form is to talk of the totems in which I do it,” Moïse said. “Everything on the wall talks of revolution. Everything in the cases talks of evolution.”
A self-taught Haitian artist, Moïse graduated with a doctorate in design in cultural preservation with a focus in museum studies and the theory of material culture from Louisiana State University in 2019. As she was finishing up her thesis, her professors encouraged Moïse to apply for a leadership position in the Haitian Arts Digital Crossroads Project (HADC). The HADC is a project working on the digitization of some 2000 works of Haitian art located in Waterloo, Iowa.
Before pursuing her doctorate Moïse worked as a first responder during Hurricane Katrina and for the Louisiana State Health and Education departments. She said she decided to accept the HADC leadership position knowing that her previous experience as a community builder and rebuilder and her background lent her the perfect skill set for the job.
“The fact that I’m Haitian, I was born and raised in exile in the United States and I never got to see myself on the walls. I’ve studied every other culture and I’ve never had the opportunity to study myself,” Moïse said, “so the king came to the corn with a machete.”
After installing her doctoral thesis display in Baton Rouge, Moïse moved to Grinnell to begin work with the HADC. Now, 5 years later, Moïse has reunited with over 100 pieces of her work, a fraction of which is displayed beside new pieces in the basement of Burling Library.
“What I hope that people walk away with is a sense of ownership of their own narrative and that they too will start creating carbon prints and carbon ripples,” Moïse said.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m., Moïse will give a lecture on the Haitian Revolution in Burling Library which will include a recess to view her exhibit. The exhibit will be open to the public until mid-April.
