Leah Gordon | Kanaval

Kanaval is a retrospective by photographer, filmmaker, curator, and writer Leah Gordon that documents twenty years of Carnival in Haiti. Curated by MOCA Curator Adeze Wilford, the exhibition consists of a series of black-and-white photographs taken on a mechanical medium format camera. The images are contextualized by a series of oral histories relayed by various troupe leaders, who also oversee the design of the costume and generate the narratives surrounding Carnival.

Their stories reflect the wealth of invention, fable, and self-generated mythology prevalent in much of Haitian culture. The photographs will be accompanied by a new feature-length documentary on the carnival providing a kinetic counterpoint to the portraits. “I’m excited to bring Kanaval to MOCA,” said Adeze Wilford, MOCA Curator. “For decades Leah has documented and helped to platform a people’s history of Haiti through her photographs. This exhibition brings that practice further through her new film that provides an incredible perspective to an inter generational conversation about tradition that is ever evolving.”