This exhibition explores the close ties across the Caribbean diaspora

The opening of How I Remembered It on July 20 similarly included games, drinks and food in I am CaribBeing’s wood-panelled mobile space on Governors Island. Shelley Worrell, founder of I am CaribBeing, says the shipping container is just one reflection of the organisation’s mission to redefine the meaning of home. “Highlighting connection and unity across Caribbean countries is crucial today because it challenges the narrative of fragmentation and division that often surrounds the region,” she says. “In a world where borders and divisions seem to be increasing, this exhibition serves as a reminder of the power of unity and the beauty of our collective heritage.”

Here, Georges and Samuels chat to Dazed about returning home and capturing how they remember it.

Tell me about how the exhibition came together.

Theodore Samuels: I’ve been doing a series on my journey through Jamaica based on the experiences I’ve had as a child. Whether it’s the food or location, I just want it to be my own memories. My art show last year, The Games We Play, had a section on memories, so Forgotten Land wanted to have another version of the experience, bringing two artists together from two different Caribbean countries.

Frédéric Georges: I used to go every year until the country dealt with really bad food insecurity. I was actually afraid of going to my country for the first time in years but I wanted to highlight there are good things about Haiti that are not in the Western media. In December last year, I met the founders of Forgotten Lands they said they wanted me in the book before I’d even started taking the images because Haiti has been going through a lot.

How do your memories of home shape your work?

Frédéric Georges: From 2018 to 2020, when things got bad in Haiti, I didn’t recognise my country anymore because everything was just in turmoil. But, growing up in Haiti, my family were very close and we’d talk to each other multiple times throughout the day. I used to take it for granted to just be there and have everyone around me. It’s more of a community, people are very close and always happy to see you. In my work, I try to showcase that positive light because Haiti isn’t usually in the media unless something bad is going on. But there’s an intimacy there that I’m always trying to capture.

Theodore Samuels: As a child growing up in a Black environment, you’re just a person, you’re not a Black individual. So, for me, after leaving Jamaica and going to the US, that impacted me. I began to understand that there is a separate nature in how you’re viewed in both places. I lost a bit of the Jamaican aesthetic, understanding, and the Jamaican balance. In college, I felt like I was missing an element of my own culture. In going back and forth, I’d revisit places that we’d go to as kids and it started to rekindle that childhood joy for me. There was no longer the separateness in my work.

Why do you think it’s important to collaborate with other Caribbean artists?

Theodore Samuels: What I love about growing up in Jamaica is our national motto is ‘Out of Many, One People’. But, still, there were always whispers about other islands. The divisive nature wasn’t necessarily taught from within my immediate family, but there was a layer there within the social construct.

Frédéric Georges: Even when Caribbean artists are highlighted in a positive way throughout the art world, it’s usually performing music and not visual art. So I think photography is a good way to bring artists together and show the world that there’s more than that. Some Caribbean people are more documented in their respective countries but Haitians aren’t very documented. When Caribbean artists come together, there’s something beautiful always comes out of it because there are certain similarities in how we think about the work and make it happen, even with different mediums.

How I Remembered It runs until August 18 at Caribbeing House on Governor’s Island.