DAY 1: Workshop
WORKSHOP: Afro Dominican Music: Percussion Workshop with La Gran Mawon
Wednesday, February 14 | 5:30-7:00 PM
Livingston Coffee House (LSC)
Join us for an Afro Dominican Music percussion workshop with Mitiko Mawon and members of the award-winning ensemble La Gran Mawon (The Big Maroon), an artist collective based in the Dominican Republic. Through their research and performance, the group explores Afro-Taino musical roots of the Caribbean Island of Kiskeya-Ayiti (comprised of Haiti and Dominican Republic) to recreate them in a respectful manner, while updating them with modern influences from hip-hop, reggae, rock, and ska. Space limited, so reserve your space now!
Sponsored by the Center for Latino Arts and Culture, the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies, the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice, Global Latinx New Jersey, Insurgent Intersections: Combating Global Anti-Blackness, Department of Africana Studies, and the Rutgers Advanced Institute for Critical Caribbean Studies.
Day 2: (Panel/Concert)
PANEL/CONCERT: AFRO DOMINICAN MUSIC: RACIALIZING THE CARIBBEAN
February 16, 2024 | Panel 6:30 PM | Concert 8:00 PM
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick NJ 08901
Imperial nation states often racialize the Caribbean as only Black, which in turn flattens the racial diversity and racialization processes that happen within the Caribbean. While most of the Caribbean may be Black, this limited imperial lens obfuscates the racial diversity and racial knowledges from the Caribbean about how Blackness is read, moves, and is embodied transnationally across cultural, visual, and musical productions. For example, while the Dominican Republic is predominantly Black, white supremacy and colorism still play a role in the access to privilege, resources, and reach for many Afro-Dominican music artists of diverse racial and gendered identities.
Featuring award winning artists Xiomara Fortuna, Yasser Tejeda and La Gran Mawon, this panel/concert is a transnational dialogue that centers race and music in Afro-Dominican culture. The conversation and musical performance will address how white supremacy and capitalism impact the perceptions of race and racial politics in the Caribbean. The artists will discuss how they navigate these issues and create other possibilities and spaces of accountability and freedom.
Sponsored by the Center for Latino Arts and Culture, the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies, the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice, Global Latinx New Jersey, Insurgent Intersections: Combating Global Anti-Blackness, Department of Africana Studies, and the Rutgers Advanced Institute for Critical Caribbean Studies.
