It’s just depravity that they try to make glorious, natural. But it ain’t.
The beauty of what we do is its secrecy, its smallness.
– TM
its smallness
Private archive
The deletions began shortly after Donald Trump took office. C.D.C. web pages on vaccines, H.I.V. prevention, and reproductive health went missing. Findings on bird-flu transmission vanished minutes after they appeared. The Census Bureau’s public repository went offline, then returned without certain directories of geographic information. The Department of Justice expunged the January 6th insurrection from its website, and whitehouse.gov took down an explainer page about the Constitution. On February 7th, Trump sacked the head of the National Archives and Records Administration, the agency that maintains the official texts of the nation’s laws, and whose motto is “the written word endures.”
More than a hundred and ten thousand government pages have gone dark
Julian Lucas, New Yorker
A guerrilla archiving movement has responded.
The basest will be well esteem’d
Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness;
Some say thy grace is youth and gentle sport;
Both grace and faults are loved of more and less;
Thou makest faults graces that to thee resort.
As on the finger of a throned queen
The basest jewel will be well esteem’d,
So are those errors that in thee are seen
To truths translated and for true things deem’d.
How many lambs night the stern wolf betray,
If like a lamb he could his looks translate!
How many gazers mightst thou lead away,
If thou wouldst use the strength of all thy state!
But do not so; I love thee in such sort
As, thou being mine, mine is thy good report.
Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness; (Sonnet 96), William Shakespeare
AG2023_1078355a helpful to me, real helpful
I see him still. He’s helpful to me, real helpful. Tells me things I need to know.
Her mind traveled crooked streets and aimless goat paths, arriving sometimes at profundity, other times at the revelations of a three-year-old.
That skill allowed her more freedom hour by hour and day by day than any other work a woman of no means whatsoever and no inclination to make love for money could choose.
(TM)
AG2025_1056028a disburdens the air of this dark weather
and by the power of that amorous hope
that sustained you, though life was bitter,
disburden the air of this dark weather
From poem 34, Petrarch:The Canzoniere. Translated by: A.S.Kline
Appropriate for A Landscape longed for.
In this here place … love small
In this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard.
Listening to the doves in Alfred, Georgia, and having neither the right nor the permission to enjoy it because in that place mist, doves, sunlight, copper dirt, moon — everything belonged to the men who had the guns. Little men, some of them, big men too, each one of whom he could snap like a twig if he wanted to. Men who knew their manhood lay in their guns and were not even embarrassed by the knowledge that without gunshot fox would laugh at them. And these “men” who made even vixen laugh could, if you let them, stop you from hearing doves or loving moonlight. So you protected yourself and loved small. Picked the tiniest stars out of the sky to own; lay down with head twisted in order to see the loved one over the rim of the trench before you slept. Stole shy glances at her between the trees at chain-up. Grass blades, salamanders, spiders, woodpeckers, beetles, a kingdom of ants. Anything bigger wouldn’t do. A woman, a child, a brother — a big love like that would split you wide open in Alfred, Georgia. He knew exactly what she meant: to get to a place where you could love anything you chose — not to need permission for desire — well now, that was freedom.
Beloved, Toni Morrison
via The Marginalian.
poemas de sal y tierra
We are proud to announce that ‘poemas de sal y tierra (poems of salt and soil),’ a curatorial partnership between FORGOTTEN LANDS and homework, opens Saturday, April 12th at 5pm and runs through May 31st.
Featuring works by Nathalie Alfonso, Stephen Arboite, Jonathan Carela, Raymel Casamayor, Nicole Combeau, Adler Guerrier, Amanda Linares, Elisa Bergel Melo, Devin Osorio, Charlie Quezada, and Victoria Ravelo.
“Cultural identity… is a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being.’ It belongs to the future as much as to the past.” — Stuart Hall
‘poemas de sal y tierra (poems of salt and soil)’ is a collective living archive, an ever evolving space where sentiment, symbolism, and memorabilia come together to be held, celebrated, reimagined, and shared. The gallery space functions like a diary written in prose, where the artworks serve as entries–preserving feelings and memories beyond physical artifacts. Artists from the Caribbean and Latin America weave new layers of meaning into inherited stories, places and objects, transforming memory into an active conversation that continues to unfold.
The exhibition explores the idea that we both come from and become the places we move through. Salt and soil, fundamental to land and sea, symbolize ancestral geographies. Through the use of various mediums–painting, drawing, sound, film, photography and sculpture– artists translate ephemeral histories, embodied knowledge and shifting landscapes into tangible artworks, much like poetry makes visible the invisible threads of our existence.
Through their work, the artists transform fragments of themselves into an active, breathing record of resilience and reverence for their roots, lived experiences and their own sense of belonging. This exhibition is ultimately a reflection of how we collect, connect and preserve the intangible, and how we return to it for comfort, clarity, and renewal. Here, collective memory isn’t fixed; it shifts, grows, and evolves through each work.
-curated by FORGOTTEN LANDS and homework
April 12 – May 31, 2025
7338 NW Miami Court, Miami FL, 33150
FORGOTTEN LANDS has emerged as a leading force in contemporary Caribbean art, serving as a vital platform that amplifies voices across the diaspora and launches the careers of emerging artists. Their mission centers on illuminating the often-overlooked narratives of the Caribbean while weaving together the region’s rich historical tapestry.Founded in 2017, founders Cory Torres Bishop and Don Brodie initially conceived FORGOTTEN LANDS as a benefit exhibition in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. What began as an immediate response to environmental disaster has evolved into a dynamic 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Today, they forge meaningful collaborations with artists, galleries, institutions, and brands to create transformative projects spanning exhibitions, community events, artist talks, publications, and beyond.
homework, founded by Aurelio Aguiló and Mayra Mejia, is a contemporary art gallery dedicated to innovative curatorial practices and fostering meaningful dialogue. By showcasing diverse artists through multidisciplinary exhibitions, homework aims to connect with global audiences, promote creative innovation, and challenge traditional artistic paradigms.
040125
Cécé, Emmelie Prophète. Translated from French by Aidan Rooney. Archipelago Books, 2025. Les villages de Dieu, Mémoire d’encrier, 2020 (Un extrait (PDF) est disponible).
Laferrière loves it.