Heart and Land: An Evening with Monique Verdin

Tulane University hosts Monique Verdin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at Tulane University’s Freeman Auditorium.

The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South and Prospect New Orleans invite you to Heart and Land: An Evening with Prospect New Orleans Artist Monique Verdin. For decades, Verdin has documented the complex interconnectedness of environment, culture, economics, climate and change in southeast Louisiana. Verdin will discuss the trajectory of her work from 1998-2018.

“20 years ago, I picked up a camera to document my Houma relatives living in the Yakne Chitto, in the heart of the Mississippi River Delta. What I’ve witnessed has been a cycle of heartbreak, from oil waste pits to hurricanes to catastrophic oil spills to rapid land loss due to sea-level rise and subsidence. My intention has always been to share southLouisiana stories and the complex realities of life at the ends of the bayous. …The more I grow to understand the heartbreak, the more I learn to appreciate this fragile ecosystem I call home and recognize it is a power point for our planet.” —Monique Verdin

Monique Verdin is the subject/co-writer/co-producer of the award-winning documentary My Louisiana Love (2012). Her interdisciplinary work has been included in an assortment of environmentally inspired projects, including the multiplatform performance/eco-experience Cry You One (2012-2017), as well as the publication Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas (2013). Monique is a member of the United Houma Nation Tribal Council and director of The Land Memory Bank & Seed Exchange. The Exchange is an experiential project that hosts cultural happening and strategic installations to collect stories, native seeds and local knowledge to build community record and a digital archive accessible to all. Currently, Monique is a part of the Another Gulf Is Possible Collaborative core leadership circle of brown (indigenous, latinx and desi) women from Texas to Florida working to envision just and sustainable economies and vibrant communities. Her work is currently featured in Prospect.4 at The Historic New Orleans Collection.

For more information, contact Regina Cairns at rcairns@tulane.edu or 504-314-2854.