Martiel Hijo De Haitiano Analysis
In an interview granted to members of the Hemispheric Institute during the Encuentro Excéntrico (2017) in Chile, Martiel shares that his grandparents emigrated to Cuba from Haiti and Jamaica “para trabajar la zafra y recoger café.” In this way, it is possible to read his performance as containing an autobiographical aspect, as he is, literally, “hijo de haitiano.” Although Martiel states that his grandparents never returned to their native Haiti and Jamaica, the performance can be understood as a reclaiming of his ancestors and as a critique of the Dominican legal apparatus that keeps an outstanding number of Haitians in a migratory limbo, one of whom could have easily been one of his grandparents and perhaps even himself. By wearing all-black,
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Is the visible expression of worry indicative of a self-identification with Martiel? What prompts this child’s response is a question we are left with. The photograph captures Martiel’s body in motion and off-balance. His head is right underneath a billowing Dominican flag that almost seems to arise from his hair. If we understand the man who is pulling the rope as representative of an ideology of Dominican nation-ness in which there is no place for the Haitian experience, by holding onto the rope, Martiel embodies the experiences of numerous Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian-descent who are, quite literally, at the mercy of the state and its migratory policies. The Dominican flag wavering on top figures almost as an ideal of legal recognition for the countless Dominicans of Haitian descent who are, still today, denied citizenship and, as a result, access to education, work, health care, and much more. Indeed, such migratory policies deny their very own existence. As the performance comes to an end and Martiel is pulled through the open field, we are left wondering about the possible outcome. Martiel’s body is juxtaposed with the body of a white man, who is parallel to him, and appears walking freely (figure 6). We thus see Martiel’s embodiment of Haitianness and Blackness in the Dominican context as constitutive of a form of modern enslavement, where the subject is commodified and stripped of its citizenship rights by birth. Martiel’s performance thus poses a serious critique of current state of affairs for Haitian nationals and Dominicans of Haitian descent who emigrate to the Dominican Republic in search for better
Is the visible expression of worry indicative of a self-identification with Martiel? What prompts this child’s response is a question we are left with. The photograph captures Martiel’s body in motion and off-balance. His head is right underneath a billowing Dominican flag that almost seems to arise from his hair. If we understand the man who is pulling the rope as representative of an ideology of Dominican nation-ness in which there is no place for the Haitian experience, by holding onto the rope, Martiel embodies the experiences of numerous Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian-descent who are, quite literally, at the mercy of the state and its migratory policies. The Dominican flag wavering on top figures almost as an ideal of legal recognition for the countless Dominicans of Haitian descent who are, still today, denied citizenship and, as a result, access to education, work, health care, and much more. Indeed, such migratory policies deny their very own existence. As the performance comes to an end and Martiel is pulled through the open field, we are left wondering about the possible outcome. Martiel’s body is juxtaposed with the body of a white man, who is parallel to him, and appears walking freely (figure 6). We thus see Martiel’s embodiment of Haitianness and Blackness in the Dominican context as constitutive of a form of modern enslavement, where the subject is commodified and stripped of its citizenship rights by birth. Martiel’s performance thus poses a serious critique of current state of affairs for Haitian nationals and Dominicans of Haitian descent who emigrate to the Dominican Republic in search for better