Brooklyn Children’s Museum Hosts Ti Atis With Haiti Cultural Exchange

Brooklyn Children's Museum, in collaboration with Haiti Cultural Exchange (HCX), presents Ti Atis, a program series celebrating Haitian culture through activities and performances facilitated by Haitian artists. The series – which begins on Saturday, November 9, 2024 – takes place the second Saturday of every month through May 2025.

Ti Atis (Little Artists) engages youth with Haitian history and heritage via the arts, providing young people with the tools to build an inclusive and culturally informed future as they learn about diverse art forms from professional Haitian artists. Each month, a different instructor from the community leads workshops in various art forms, including dance, visual arts, music, and more. Past programs have explored traditional Haitian dance, Carnival mask-making, and rhythms of the African Diaspora, offering a rich and diverse cultural experience for participants.

“Haiti Cultural Exchange is thrilled to continue to partner with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum for our signature youth program, Ti Atis to foster an appreciation and understanding for Haitian culture and arts,” says Régine M. Roumain, Executive Director of Haiti Cultural Exchange. “We were very fortunate to bring a number of teaching artists including Haitian drummers, dancers, puppet makers and visual artists and we look forward to a robust season of youth arts engagement.”

A primary component of Haiti Cultural Exchange’s youth development initiatives, Ti Atis is an arts education program engaging youth of Haitian descent and their peers with Haitian history and heritage via the arts. The program gives young people the tools to build an inclusive and culturally informed future as they learn about diverse art forms from professional Haitian artists.

The goal is to increase appreciation of Haiti and its culture, promote positive cultural identity and self-image, facilitate cross-cultural dialogue, and cultivate an inclusive sense of community amongst young people. Ti Atis is led in a variety of ways: workshops, assemblies, after-school, and in community-based settings.

The Museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturdays, and the program runs from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Tickets – which can be purchased at www.brooklynkids.org/ti-atis - are $15 for children and adults (children under 1 years old are free), and $14 for grandparents.

About Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Inspired by the energy and diversity of our borough, Brooklyn Children’s Museum creates experiences that ignite curiosity, celebrate identity and cultivate joyful learning. Founded in 1899 as the world’s first children’s museum, Brooklyn Children’s Museum (BCM) is New York City’s largest cultural institution designed especially for families. Proudly based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, BCM serves 300,000 children and caregivers annually with exhibits and programs grounded in visual arts, music and performance, natural science, and world cultures. For more information, visit: www.brooklynkids.org.

About Haiti Cultural Exchange
Haiti Cultural Exchange (HCX) was founded in 2009 by seven Haitian women with the aim to create a permanent presence for Haitian Arts & Culture in our city. Our programs in the arts, education and public affairs raise awareness of social issues and foster cultural understanding within and beyond the Haitian community. Our activities deepen appreciation of the rich diversity of Haitian arts culture in New York City—one of the primary outposts of the Haitian diaspora—and provide opportunities for artists of Haitian descent to develop and present their work. The Haitian Diaspora is the seventh largest immigrant group in New York City, with over 90,000 individuals residing in Brooklyn, yet the Haitian community surveyed by HCX often feels there is an exceeding lack of representation of Haitian arts and culture in this cultural capital. HCX is important “Because Haitian culture is the greatest story rarely told,” says one survey respondent. HCX seeks to be a primary, authentic resource for presenting the culture of Haiti and the Diaspora. Learn more at https://haiticulturalx.org.