Le Kèr Creole (The Creole Heart):
Runaway Slaves, Music, and Memory in Louisiana
Presented by The Louisiana State Museum, in partnership with the Neighborhood Story Project at the University of New Orleans and L’Union Creole at the Cabildo in New Orleans.
Le Kèr Creole explores the legacy of the Louisiana Creole language through the historical memory of Juan San Malo, the leader of a community founded by former enslaved people in the 1780s and through contemporary Creole music. The exhibit features photography by Bruce Sunpie Barnes; lithophanes and paintings by Francis X Pavy; archival images, maps, and artifacts from the Louisiana State Museum; an interactive altar featuring wood carvings by Charles Gillam; and Creole music written and arranged by Barnes and Leroy Etienne.
Rachel Breunlin, University of New Orleans assistant professor of anthropology and co-founder of the Neighborhood Story Project, curated the exhibit along with Barnes and Pavy. It is based on the book and CD “Le Kèr Creole: Creole Compositions and Stories from Louisiana,” a collaborative musical ethnography produced by the Neighborhood Story Project, L’Union Creole, and the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and published by the University of New Orleans Press.
Lapin avec sol noir — 13 1/4” x 16 1/2” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy
Guardian one — 13 1/4” x 16 1/2” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy
Bonds — augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X. Pavy
Guardian two — 13 5/8” x 13” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy
Elemental Cross — Framed 13.25 x 16.25” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy
Morning mist at colony Marron — 15 1/8” x 22” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy
Main de maroon — 15 1/2 x 24 1/4” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy
Mud snake with Blessing — 12 3/8” x 31 1/4” — augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©Francis X. Pavy 2017
Wanderer with Snake blessing — 13 1/4”x 16 1/2” — augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©Francis X. Pavy 2017
Hanging of Jean Malo — 16 7/8” x 13 1/4” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy
Estuary in August — 23”x38” oil on canvas ©2019 Francis X Pavy
Dog days of summer with rain — 38” x 54” oil on canvas ©2019 Francis X Pavy
Fernest — 24” x 20” oil on linen ©1985 Francis X Pavy
Blessing with Flame — Framed 25 7/8” x 13 1/4” augmented photographic lithophane in carved acrylic ©2017 Francis X Pavy