An nou pale Ayiti, “let’s talk Haiti” in Haitian Creole, is the guiding phrase of the second edition of Purchase’s global festival, which this year is devoted to Haiti.

It is an invitation to listening and open dialogue without presuming answers or conclusions, to crafting new narratives. When the mainstream American press covers Haiti, the prognosis often appears dire: poverty, natural disasters, political instability. Yet the world can draw inspiration from Haiti. Its identity is forged inextricably out of a history of revolution and hard-fought independence, as it became the world’s first free black republic in 1804, and ideas developed by Haitian revolutionaries proved critical to the modern conception of universal human rights. The artists, thinkers and activists who will be featured in the second edition of (T)HERE help us connect Haiti’s audacious past to a more auspicious future for all.

Purchase College thanks its cultural partners for (T)HERE: Creatively Speaking, Focus on French Cinema, and Haiti Cultural Exchange.