Visions d’un jardin tropical: A Multisensorial Dreamscape of Haitian Diasporic Experiences

In it, members of the collective and dance artists Lia Estelle Widmaier and John Shades present a program of live performative interventions.

Founded by Haitian artists, scholars, and activists living in Germany, Kolektif Choublak thus takes up and expands upon the installation work *Diaspora Daydreams Kiosk*, created in 2024 by member Yann-Olivier Kersaint.

The collective brings together cultural artifacts, multidisciplinary artistic contributions, and sensory atmospheres as fragments of a scattered and pluralistic experience of Haiti, shaped by memory, migration, and imagination. These include, among other things, flags designed by the artist Jean Ulrick Désert.

This new installation represents an expansion of the kiosk and challenges dominant narratives and perceptions of Haiti by bringing everyday life, as well as the intimacy and heterogeneity within the diaspora, to the forefront. The tropical garden, to which the work’s title alludes, serves as a social gathering place open to the public throughout the festival weekend. Like a mangrove forest, this relational space—located at the heart of Bwa Kayiman—represents a commitment to relational knowledge, ecological thinking, and diasporic imagination.

Throughout the festival, the installation creates a space where people can come together, take in impressions, and exchange ideas. In this way, they can participate in the unfolding ecology of the installation.

On Saturday evening, members of the collective, together with other artists, will bring the installation to life with a series of short live interventions featuring spoken word and dance. In addition, a DJ set will invite the audience, with gentle sounds, to linger, converse, and explore the installation and the performances. On Sunday evening, the installation remains accessible even after the festival’s final program item. This provides a moment of closure: attendees can come together one last time to exchange thoughts and say goodbye to one another until the next edition of Bwa Kayiman.

• Part of Bwa Kayiman: Crossing the Mangrove

Installation, performative interventions

Visions d’un jardin tropical: A multisensory dreamscape of Haitian-diasporic experiences

Kolektif Choublak (Aïda Roumer, Carl-Henry Cadet, Trovania Delille, Yann-Olivier Kersaint) with Jean-Ulrick Désert, Lia Estelle Widmaier, John Shades

Dates

Installation:

• Sat., Aug. 1, 2026, 12:00–11:00 p.m.
• Sun., Aug. 2, 2026, 11:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.
• Performative Interventions:
• Sat., Aug. 1, 2026, 9:30 p.m.

Location: Sylvia Wynter Foyer