Can we still communicate? Providence exhibit uses music to help break down barriers

Rob Duguay
·3 min read
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In these divided times, when talking through our differences and finding common ground is so challenging, art can play a vital role in bringing people together.

That's the idea behind Haitian-American composer and activist Daniel Bernard Roumain's new video exhibition "The Seeing," produced in partnership with FirstWorks and WaterFire Providence, on view at the WaterFire Arts Center through Feb. 6.

A companion performance, "The Telling," featuring a new collection of Roumain's original compositions in collaboration with more than a dozen artists, was originally planned for Jan. 22 but was rescheduled to Sept. 29 because of the COVID surge. It will kick off FirstWorks' 2022-23 season.

"The Seeing" features six films scored by Roumain, related to our willingness to hear, understand and love one another, and all exploring the basic question: Can we see each other?

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Roumain, a prolific composer and performer who has worked with artists ranging from Philip Glass to Lady Gaga, and who served for two years as FirstWorks' artistic ambassador, says he wanted to merge music and activism because of the connection he finds between them.

“There are some artists who believe that all of the arts are political, all of the arts,” Roumain says. “[They believe] human expression is political, "Swan Lake" is political, "The Nutcracker" is political, "Bambi" is political and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is political. [They believe] Prince, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan are political and Mozart is political. It depends on the audience, and it depends on your own beliefs. I happen to believe that music is inherently political and reflective, while certainly able to be a part of activism."

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Haitian American composer, violinist and activist Daniel Bernard Roumain, the creative force behind the exhibit "The Seeing" and the companion performance "The Telling."
Haitian American composer, violinist and activist Daniel Bernard Roumain, the creative force behind the exhibit "The Seeing" and the companion performance "The Telling."

“Art is resistance with a capital R," he adds. "Certainly, my music is political, and most of what I write and compose is as an activist, now more than ever. I think a show like ‘The Seeing’ or ‘The Telling’ allows the audience to have their politics and their activism in a room and in a place that I hope starts a conversation with mine.”

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The six films in "The Seeing," which range in length from 30 minutes to just a few minutes, are: “They Still Want To Kill Us,” “About Face,” "I Have Nothing to Do Except Love," “Fear,” “Requiem, for The Living, In Colour” and “Our Country.”

“‘The Seeing’ is a parallel experience that I think serves as a commentary upon ‘The Telling,’ which is a series of works I’ve composed that are all centered around the fight for social justice, but, just as importantly, how we talk to one another,” Roumain says. “What stories are being told, and, ultimately, how do we see one another?

"I think where we are right now is that we are divided, and I think we can agree on a certain set of values, but I don’t think we share the same ideas of morality.”

During the Sept. 29 performance of "The Telling,” Roumain will play both acoustic and electric violins while being joined by several local musicians, including some from Community MusicWorks in Providence. There will be both dancing and visual components, with the audience surrounding the performers in a box-like form of seating at the WaterFire Arts Center.

“It’s something that I’ve never really done before,” he says. “There will be chamber music, a string quartet, piano, solo violin, solo electric violin, operatic singing and modern dance."

Performers will include classical pianist Melvin Chen, deputy dean of the Yale School of Music, and Shura Baryshnikov, daughter of ballet great Mikhail Baryshnikov and actress Jessica Lange.

The free exhibit "The Seeing" is on view at the WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley St., Providence, on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Feb. 6. Masks are required inside the venue. Tickets for "The Telling" will be $35 to $55, with a pay-what-you-can option. For more information on the two events, go to first-works.org or the WaterFire Arts Center’s website, waterfire.org.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence exhibit 'The Seeing' harnesses political power of music