About the event
In “Gade nan mizè-a m tonbe,” a plaintive Vodou song dedicated to the lwa Bwa Nan Bwa (Tree in the Woods), the singer asks the spirit to look at the misery into which he has fallen. Guided by this poignant song, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (Hispanic Studies, Vassar) explores what the nation’s severe deforestation—and the loss of its sacred mapous—has meant for religious practices and beliefs in Haiti. This talk is part of the City SEEDS Lecture Series on Aesthetic and Cultural Expressions of African-Derived Religions.
