Kessie Theliar-Charles

Kessie Theliar-Charles is a transdisciplinary artist-researcher affiliated with CIDIHCA (Centre international de documentation et d'information haïtienne, caribéenne et afro-canadienne) and co-founder of the research collective Black Art Histories Montreal. With a particular interest in the Haitian diaspora, she focuses on the recovery, preservation and dissemination of the legacy of Afro-descendant visual artists who have been and continue to be active in Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal.

“Ensuring that Afro-Montrealers are visible to each other, in terms of their histories and cultural productions in the city, is at the heart of my creative process. My practice has led me to explore marginalized narratives that are largely undocumented, and to seek different ways of preserving and disseminating them. This residency, inspired by this absence of writing, underlines for me the importance of the archival dimension of writing.”