AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions, with the support of artist Manuel Mathieu, is launching the first edition of the Marie-Solanges Apollon program with the goal of giving visibility to women* artists from the Black Atlantic diasporas, from the 19th century to today.
This program is named after Marie-Solanges Apollon, Manuel Mathieu’s grandmother, who was a Black immigrant woman living in Canada and a true potomitan. This polysemous creole term comes from the Haitian Vodou traditions and refers to a person, often a woman, who is the central pillar of their home, family, and community. The eponymous scholarship and residency are an homage to her and to the women whose lives have historically been kept in the shadows.
The Marie-Solanges Apollon program seeks to encourage research that highlights the artistic practices of women in transcultural situations related to the Black Atlantic, according to Paul Gilroy, or to the Global South. Special attention will be given to proposals that focus on artists who have lived with overlapping issues related to migration, métissage, Afro-descendance, Africanness, and/or gender.
