Daveed Baptiste Imagination Fund Application — Caribbean Dreams

Artist statement

Caribbean Dreams is a photography and film project that vividly captures the journey of Haitian immigrants in America, descendants of the first independent Black nation in the West. This series has been selected by Times Square Arts as the next featured work for the 'Midnight Moment' exhibition, where it will be displayed across 150 screens in Times Square for one month. Funding from the imagination Fund would enable me to create 15 additional images and a short film. Each image and film still chronicles the stages of existence for Haitian immigrants living in NYC, tracing the path from the virtuous newcomer to the assimilated Black American, culminating in a spiritually awakened self. Caribbean Dreams is a continuation of the concepts and visuals from my previous projects, Haiti to Hood and Ti Maché. In this new body of work, I will assemble sets that simulate the interior spaces of Haitian homes from my hometown, Little Haiti in Miami.