Edouard Duval-Carrié, the Miami-based Haitian artist, took part in the 61st Venice Biennale. Since Aug. 1 a retrospective built around that moment, From Venice with Love, has filled The Betsy - South Beach at 1440 Ocean Drive, and on Saturday, Oct. 31, the hotel closes the project's season of programs with a shared paella dinner, Haitian folkloric dance and a set from a Haitian DJ. The art itself stays on view through Nov. 15.

The Closing Night

The From Venice with Love Paella Party runs from 8 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 31 at The Betsy. The program, built around the food, performance and music of the African and Caribbean diaspora, includes:

  • Nancy St. Leger Dance Company, an ensemble devoted to preserving and performing Haitian folkloric dance.
  • DJ Gardy, the Haitian DJ, producer and singer Gardy Girault, whose Rara Tech style joins traditional Caribbean sound with contemporary electronic music.
  • A shared paella dinner.

The evening is produced by The Betsy Writers Room and Florida International University's Public Humanities Lab, with support from a CreARTE grant from the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation. The event listing on Greater Miami's official tourism site shows tickets starting at no cost.

What Is on View

From Venice with Love is a retrospective and public humanities project centered on Duval-Carrié after his participation in the Biennale. His work fills The Betsy Gallery, light boxes of his work hang in the hotel's B Bar, and in August his video work was projected nightly on the Betsy Orb. FIU's Public Humanities Lab describes the exhibition as drawing on Duval-Carrié's reflections at Venice, with themes of identity, migration and cultural memory. His work often takes up Haitian history, Vodou symbolism and the connections between Haiti, Africa and the wider Caribbean.

The project is a partnership among The Betsy Hotel, FIU's Public Humanities Lab, IPC ArtSpace, iWitness and the Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance. Its programs this fall included a panel on Oct. 22 on collecting and preserving Haitian art, moderated by Dr. Rebecca Friedman, director of FIU's Public Humanities Lab, with Duval-Carrié, the NYU scholar Dr. Edward J. Sullivan and Pérez Art Museum Miami director Franklin Sirmans.

Plan a Visit

Closing celebration: Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 to 10 p.m.

Exhibition: On view through Sunday, Nov. 15.

Where: The Betsy - South Beach, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139. The hotel's listed number is (844) 539-2840.

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