The Totality Of Our Good Life: Artist Perspectives on History

Please join us for a welcome reception at 6 p.m. before the start of the event.

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This event will be held in English.

Co-sponsored by the Columbia Global Paris Center and the Terra Foundation for American Art, and curated by The Californien Agency.

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“THE TOTALITY OF OUR GOOD LIFE” is a visual conversation about Haitian culture and its influence on the gens de couleur libres of Louisiana, a "forgotten people" of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Fabiola Jean-Louis and Andrew LaMar Hopkins are two distinguished artists whose works delve into the complex and interwoven narratives of Caribbean, Haitian and free people of color in 18th- and 19th-century Louisiana. This discussion, moderated by Claire Tancons, will explore the nuanced realities of a community that navigated an “in-between” status in a racially obsessed society.

Andrew LaMar Hopkins captures the “good life” that members of this community presented to the outside world, showcasing their elegance and cultural richness. In contrast, Fabiola Jean-Louis delves into the physical and emotional scars endured by many during this period, particularly Black women, as they strove to achieve and maintain their precarious status.

The talk will also highlight the influence of Haitian culture, the agency of women, and the significance of respectability in dress and etiquette. Through their combined bodies of work, Jean-Louis and Hopkins present a comprehensive narrative that encapsulates both the triumphs and tribulations of this community, ultimately representing “THE TOTALITY OF OUR GOOD LIFE.”

1964-2024: Celebrating 60 Years of Columbia at Reid Hall

2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the gift of Reid Hall to Columbia University by Helen Rogers Reid. Today, the space houses the Columbia Global Paris Center, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, the longstanding undergraduate programs, and Columbia’s M.A. in History and Literature program. Please join us as we celebrate this milestone.

View the full anniversary program on our website.

Speakers

Fabiola Jean-Louis was born in Port Au Prince, Haiti, on September 10th, 1978, and moved to Brooklyn, NY, at a young age, where she began to immerse herself in a new and diverse cultural landscape. While attending the High School of Fashion Industries, her passion for the arts flourished, leading her to explore various creative outlets. It wasn't until much later, in November 2013, that Fabiola discovered her talent for photography during a significant journey of artistic rediscovery. Initially, she began taking self-portraits as a matter of convenience, driven by her shyness and her keen understanding of how to effectively convey the intricate stories she wanted to tell using her own body as a canvas. As time progressed, her work grew to encompass not only other subjects and models but also elaborate costumes and intricate sculptures made entirely out of paper. Today, her artistic practice is focused on continuous experimentation through the innovative use of different techniques, diverse disciplines, and even a variety of art styles, allowing her to push the boundaries of her creativity. While her images have often been described as "magical, moody, and mysterious," Fabiola's artistic work may be most accurately encapsulated as Afro Surrealism. In her creations, she skillfully combines the bizarre yet undeniably beautiful dualities that characterize Haitian culture. She artfully distorts reality in order to reveal the profound power associated with spirit, and she is expansive in her exploration of the complexities of Blackness. Furthermore, her work serves as a thoughtful critique of the societal structures that are imposed upon Black lives, encouraging viewers to reflect on these important issues.

Andrew LaMar Hopkins (b. 1977 in Mobile, AL) paints meticulous, lush, minute depictions of 19th-century interior scenes and architectural set pieces based on the histories of free Creole people in New Orleans, the city he has called home for over a decade. Growing up in Alabama, Hopkins was particularly fixated on the Southern Creole culture to which his family is linked, and which the Civil War largely erased; Hopkins can trace his lineage to a major Creole family, descended from Nicolas Baudin, a Frenchman who received a Louisiana land grant in 1710. Drawing from this history and his expertise as an antiquarian, Hopkins carefully researches the architecture, material culture, and daily life of Creole populations in Southern cities circa 1830. Hopkins’ more recent works are set in Savannah, Georgia, where he currently divides his time between Savannah and his beloved New Orleans. The self-taught Hopkins’ pictorial compositions visually recall the paintings of Clementine Hunter, Grandma Moses, and Horace Pippin. Rendering interiors and exteriors with exquisite detail, and depicting both free Creoles of color and white Creoles, Hopkins deconstructs and reimagines an idealized antebellum history of Southern port cities—often injecting overtly homosocial scenarios or obvert references to queer culture, that excavate the often repressed histories of LGBTQ people in the antebellum south. Likewise, these queer characters echo Hopkins own biography and his parallel practice as a drag queen: his alter ego, Désirée Joséphine Duplantier, is a retro grande dame from New Orleans.

Claire Tancons (moderator) is a curator and scholar focused on postcolonial politics in art production and exhibition. Over the past decade, she has carved a unique path in performance curation, integrating African diasporic aesthetics and challenging traditional methodologies. Tancons recently co-curated the Sharjah Biennial 14 and has worked on prominent international biennials such as the Göteborg Biennial and the Cape Town Biennial. She organized the first solo exhibitions for artists Robin Rhode and Ralph Lemon in New York and has directed large-scale public performances in iconic locations worldwide. Highlights of her curatorial work include En Mas’: Carnival and Performance Art of the Caribbean and Tide by Side for Faena Art. She frequently speaks at international art forums and has published writings in various academic journals and exhibition catalogs. Through her production company, Extemporary, she directed the documentary Minshall: Mas of the Millennium and is currently working on a film about her father, Guadeloupean intellectual Gauthier Tancons. Tancons has received numerous awards, including a Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant in 2018. She holds an MA in Museum Studies from École du Louvre and an MA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Originally from Guadeloupe, she lives in diaspora and works in situ.

Organizers

The Columbia Global Paris Center addresses pressing global issues that are at the forefront of international education and research: agency and gender; climate and the environment; critical dialogues for just societies; encounters in the arts; and health and medical science. The Paris Global Center is part of Columbia Global, which brings together major global initiatives from across the university including the Columbia Global Centers, Columbia World Projects, the Committee on Global Thought, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, and Undergraduate Global Engagement.

Curation and cultural production provided by The Californien Agency. Founded by Patrick Banks, The Californien Agency is a consultancy specializing in advising and collaborating with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in the areas of strategy, cultural production, and business development. Before relocating to Paris, Patrick had a successful career as an attorney in New Orleans. Subsequently, he worked for 15 years as a real estate development executive, contributing to transformative projects in San Francisco. Patrick's diverse professional background and passion for the arts drive his commitment to empowering and elevating the creative community through The Californien.

In partnership with organizations and individuals locally and globally, the Terra Foundation for American Art fosters intercultural dialogues and encourages transformative practices to expand narratives of American art.

Venue

Nestled in the Montparnasse district, Reid Hall hosts several Columbia University initiatives: the Columbia Global Paris Center, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, the Columbia Undergraduate Programs, the M.A. in History and Literature, and the GSAPP Shape of Two Cities Program. This unique combination of resources is enhanced by our global network whose mission is to expand the University's engagement with the world through educational programs, research initiatives, regional partnerships, and public events.

This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

The views and opinions expressed by speakers and guests do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the Columbia Global Paris Center or its affiliates.