As of Spring 2019, the Diaspora Project showcases four pilot micro-projects or “routes” to approach carnival practices in the Caribbean, all using materials from various sources: the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), University of Puerto Rico–Río Piedras’ El Mundo and Puerto Rican Collections, and the privately owned Lowell Fiet Photo Collection.
These initial micro-projects were developed following what we conceive as a digital residencies model. Participants in this initial phase were Caribbean scholars invited to explore the collections mentioned above in order to articulate ways to reuse these materials as curated content, showcasing Caribbean carnival practices.
In fact, a long-term goal of our Project is to promote the participation in these digital residencies by teachers, students, researchers, and artists/practitioners, who can provide a dialogic experience on Caribbean carnival practices. In other words, as they explore and use the archived materials, they will also add their own experiences, providing new materials to the site while generating creative, collaborative products or projects.
Through this production model, we are conceptualizing our site as an incubator for Digital Humanities projects related to migration and carnival in the Caribbean.
Pilot Micro-Projects:
- What is Carnival? [created by Lowell Fiet]
- Carnival Events [created by Nadjah Ríos Villarini]
- Carnival and Political Figures [created by Mirerza González-Vélez]
- Rethinking Calypso [created by Nora E. Ponte Cobo and her students]
