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Following Ghosts To Find Oneself

Lisandro Suriel investigates the influences in Black Atlantic identity, through mythology and magic.

“Who am I ? Where do I come from? Where does my story begin? I find myself marooned on an island in a state of amnesia. Here, the only thing I can remember is that I am Black”. St-Martin-born artist Lisandro Suriel questions his own identity as he creates images to evoke the history and cultural influences of the West Indies.

A myriad of ghosts come forth in the photographer’s work: a colonial past, the trade of enslaved people, and the Jumbees that appear in the title of the exhibition. Spirits and demons of Caribbean Folklore, Jumbees draw from African, Amerindian, East Indian, Dutch, English and even Chinese mythology, reflecting the ethnic facets and the complexity of Caribbean culture.

Lisandro Suriel’s exhibition The Jumbee Sea is on view at

Foreign Agent

gallery until April 23.

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