We believe that art and culture is a way of not only bringing understanding but bringing
people together as well as helping to develop wealth, and we saw that from the beginning
of the creation of Opa-locka.
It was about a film, art, and it was a fairytale brought from a far land, creativity, entertainment,
and its Moorish architecture and its founding on creating film was what attracted the earliest
settlers here to Opa-locka, and so we're just picking up from where we started.
With this project, I've been tasked to help master plan this inaugural "Art of Transformation"
event as a registered Art Basel location this year and tying together all the different
pieces of the different curators and fusing it together into an outdoor experience, which
sits in the midway point of three of the gallery activations.
At the very start of this project, you know, all the creative leads were on a phone call
about like, "Hey, what do we do?"
And the very first thing I said, and I think a few other people on the call were also thinking,
is that nothing happens on Sunday of Basel.
It goes from 1,000% to absolutely zero, that happens.
And I think that then we started ideating, go, "Why don't we throw an exodus event?"
And we're like, "Well, actually that's perfect" because the majority people are exiting out
of Opa-locka through the Executive Airport because that's the private airport for Miami,
and that's where the high-flying collectors and all the people are actually passing through
this neighborhood already.
They can have some great food, experience some great art, and it's really something
that's, you know, there's not too many cities that are curating their own special thing.
How do we tie the past with the present?
What you're seeing now in this exhibit is a culmination of that, where we are not only
looking at Africa but also thinking about the artists who are living in the diaspora,
because Miami is such a diasporic place.
And so we wanted to root ourselves in Africa but also to think about where Africa is, instead
of just the continent but also across the globe.
Obviously we're taking advantage that it's Miami Art Basel but I think more importantly
for us is how do we engage our local community here in Opa-locka so that they can be a witness
to all this amazing stuff that is happening in their backyard.
Bon appetit.
I will be providing you with a very cultural menu to showcase African and Haitian cuisine.
It's right up my alley because culture goes hand in hand with art, and art goes with food,
so this category ties in all together, and my setups and my food is based on culture.
That's the first thing you'll taste.
It's a way to represent, you know, not only our culture but the way we see life, and it
is a testimony of the way we live, the way we feel about humanity and our own community.
You will see the 509.
509 is the area code, the telephone area code in Haiti.
That's been, is a communication always and communication with Haiti.
My work represent everything for me.
You know, this is a way I can communicate with other people.
I can show the way I see thing.
I'm really excited about what Dr. Logan and his team are doing to transform the city but
also the impact it can have on young people in the city.
Seeing beautiful art inspire people, then I hope the impact of this show is that they
are able to find the artistic side inside themselves, and maybe two, three years from
now when we have the next edition of this show, we can feature artists that are from
Opa-locka.
All the international people that are coming asking me what I'm doing, what's happening.
I go, "Well, actually you should be coming up to Opa-locka, and you better see something
at its genesis."
And I think that's, there's something beautiful about that, something raw about that, and
something just eager for people to learn more about.
I think it means that we've arrived in the sense that our work, the people who are represented
here in the various activities, be it the visual art or the performance art or the spoken
word, the culinary art, all that would take place over the next three or four days has
gained the respect and interest that other types of of communities and cultures have
developed over the decades and centuries and particularly over the recent years here in
Dade County.
We also recognize that the African diaspora, which quite frankly is what most of Miami
is made up of, has its place in all communities, and the quality of its residents, of people
who represent those communities, of the businesses, the community organizations as well as the
governments not only are capable but are deserving of getting their piece of the spotlight.
And the only way we can continue to grow Art Basel Miami Beach is with these satellite
fairs, with these opportunities for the community, local artists as well as international artists
to continue to have spaces where they can show their work, sell their work, and tell
their stories.
I think in the end, we really do believe in the term "art of transformation" because this
is not just art for the sake of art.
This is art for the sake of transforming place, people, and lives.
♪ I really mean it ♪