In The Field Recording unearths the globe's lesser-known musical and cultural phenomena and crafts them into multi-media documentary experiences. Our three major current documentary recording, photography and video projects are focused on Haiti.
In the image above, Richard Fleming is seen using stereo Schoeps microphones to make a digital recording of the rara of the peristil of Madame Nerval of Jacmel, Haiti for our first project, an investigation of traditional rara in Southeast Haiti. A kind of ambulatory vodou ceremony, raras go out from their temples and march through the community during the pre-Easter period corresponding with Christian Lent. It is a metaphorical seizing of the public right-of-way, and a performance of sacred and secret vodou “errands” and obligations.
Our second project, Amazing Barbershop, is a survey of the vernacular art of the commercial painters who decorate the majority of hair-salons and barbershops throughout Haiti. Outside of the mainstream, often autodidacts, some incredibly talented artists occupy a marginal space in an already marginalized corner of the international art world. A proposed museum exhibition and catalogue, this ongoing project includes extensive photographic documentation, audio interviews with the artists, and an investigation of the material culture of the barbershop. See Amazingbarbershop.com for examples and information.
The third current project, Radyo Shak, involves the construction and operation of a community radio station in the inner city of Port-au-Prince during the 4th Ghetto Biennale. In conjunction with Clocktower.org, Richard is producing a wide variety of radio programming both for and about contemporary Haiti, including original music recordings, political commentary and artist interviews aiming to intensify the bond between local and international artists at the Biennale and promote grass-roots media in the “Ghetto.”
Your financial assistance in furthering these projects is greatly appreciated!