Visions of the Past, Islands of the Future

Rivka Valérie Louissaint, from Visions of the Past, Islands of the Future.

Mar. 6-Apr. 14, 2024

Visions of the Past, Islands of the Future, new work by Rivka Valérie Louissaint explores the multifaceted realities of the African Diaspora by putting the histories of Haiti and Cuba on center stage, inviting us to draw lessons and imagine the sustainable future we can create together.

Bringing together the many elements of Louissaint’s art practice, Visions of the Past, Islands of the Future offers an immersive experience that includes an installation of paintings on paper that invite viewers into the natural environment of the islands. Paintings on canvas depict revolution and the shared histories of Haiti and Cuba. Performance—dance, drums, poetry and prose—will inform the exhibition.

Banner Image: Rivka Valérie Louissaint, from Visions of the Past, Islands of the Future, mixed media, 2023-24.

About the Artist

Rivka Valérie Louissaint.

Rivka Valérie Louissaint, also known as Kakou (Kah-koo), is a Haitian cultural worker currently based in Oakland, CA. As a Working Class, Female, Queer, Black, Haitian immigrant, Louissaint explores what it means to have these social identities in relation to both current and past socio-political structures. A recent MFA graduate of the UC Berkeley Art Practice Department, they are currently a Gerardo Marín Postdoctoral Fellow at USF.

Louissaint’s work has been exhibited at BAMPFA, Berkeley; SOMArts Cultural Center and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn; New York Academy of Art, New York; Oliver Art Center, Oakland; and Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They were a recipient of the Murphy Cadogan Award in 2021, and a 2022 AXA Art Prize finalist.

Exhibition Object List

Drum and dance performance.
Artistic rendering of Haiti.
Art on view at Thacher Gallery.
Art on view at Thacher Gallery.
Artistic rendering of drum.
Artistic rendering of Haitian revolution.
Opening Performance with artist Rivka Valérie Louissaint and Jeff Pierre on percussion, Mar. 6, 2024.
Detail of Current Realities in Haiti, Mixed media on canvas, 2024.
Installation image of Visions of the Past, Islands of the Future with vessels, hammer and sickle in cornmeal, and Hopeful Future for the Caribbean, mixed media on canvas, 2014.
Haitian Revolution, mixed media on canvas, 2024; Damballah and Ayida Wedo Veve, flour and chalk, 2024; and elements from Indigenous people of Haiti and Cuba along with Indigenous plants, paper, gouache, acrylic, graphite, 2024.
Installation image of Installation image of Visions of the Past, Islands of the Future.
Detail of Haitian Revolution, mixed media on canvas, 2024.