22 Sep Digital premiere of Sharing Grandmothers

FUNDarte presents the digital premiere of Sharing Grandmothers featuring Inez Barlatier (Miami) and LORNOAR (Cameroon), on Thursday, September 30th at 7:00 p.m. (EAST) available at FUNDarte’s YouTube channel & Facebook page. This video is part of Phase 1 (Musical Component) of Sharing Grandmothers, and includes excerpts of concerts and workshops that were held in Yaoundé, Cameroon during August 2021.

 This premiere is an opportunity to watch a video preview of Sharing Grandmothers’ musical component.
Watch the live in-person premiere of the multidisciplinary show Sharing Grandmothers, which includes theater, music, and dance, on January 29-30, 2022 at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium.

This project is an original transatlantic cultural exchange multidisciplinary musical journey built around two Black women singer/songwriters exploring the profound contributions of Black women to humanity and draws on the lives and work of African and Afro-descendant women both past and present. The lead artists for this project are Haitian American, Inez Barlatier from Miami, and LORNOAR from Cameroon, who are both creative leaders in their respective communities. The project’s concept and direction are by Carlos Caballero, accompanied by an artistic, design, and technical team from both countries.

What: Sharing Grandmothers Phase 1 Musical Component

When: Thursday, September 30^th, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

Where: FUNDarte’s YouTube channel & Facebook page. 

Cost: Free!

+ info: 786.348.0789 | www.fundarte.us

About the Artists

LORNOAR and Inez Barlatier, Sharing Grandmother Phase 1. August 2021, Yaoundé (Cameroon). Photographer: Randy Valdes

Inez Barlatier is a 1st generation Ayisyen-American (Haitian-American) multidisciplinary artist residing in Miami. Inez performs as a singer-songwriter, rhythm guitarist, recording artist, percussionist, dancer, actress, and hand drum instructor. She has performed nationally and internationally with Kazoots, Jan Sebon & Kazak International, Venus Rising Women’s Drum & Dance Ensemble, and One Drum, as well as appearing as a solo musician and with her own band. Inez began her music career at the age of 12 years old as a member of her father’s band, Jan Sebon & Kazak International. CBS 4 News Miami featured Inez and her work as a TYA artist in a segment called “Miami Proud” in December 2019. Her work has also been showcased on National Public Radio (NPR), WLRN (Miami), WDNA (Florida), Complex TV, Island TV, The Miami New Times, and The Miami Herald. She was awarded a L.E.A.P. grant from Miami Theater Center which sponsored a children’s educational and interactive show entitled “Ayiti, the Pearl of the Antilles” produced and directed by Inez. The Knight Foundation partnered with Miami Light Project awarded Inez with a Knight Arts Champion grant in December 2017 resulting in her debut EP entitled MOUN | MOON co-produced by James Valsin. Her lifelong passion and exposure to multicultural and folkloric music are reimagined in her work creating fresh yet nostalgic and often emotional experiences. While performing internationally, Inez works as an accountant, a teaching artist, a drum circle leader, an actress, and a dancer. Her theatrical portfolio includes the presentation in Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua of “Writing in Sand”, a 3-women play written and directed by Carlos Caballero of FUNDarte, and upcoming contemporary works written and directed by award-winning playwright, Teo Castellanos. Inez strives to positively impact the lives of women and girls using the arts as a tool for self-empowerment.

LORNOAR is a singer, songwriter and dancer from Cameroon. Born and raised in Yaoundé, the capital city, she began her career at an early age. She made her debut as a professional singer in 2007, being featured in a prominent local night-club and was hired by a famous band that offered her the opportunity to tour extensively throughout the country and to back vocally most of Cameroon’s greatest singers. In 2010 she won First Prize in the nationwide competition of female voices “MASSAO” in Douala, and in July 2011 released her first solo album, earning numerous hyperbolic reviews. Her first video clip “Ote Ben Ma” was released in January 2012, followed by a second clip with her hit song “ZEN”. A popular TV show “Rendezvous with Lornoar” has been aired on the National TV Channel. In 2012 she toured through Paris, and in 2014 she performed in various venues in Harlem and Greenwich Village in New York. There, she recorded her second album «100{0663a8892bbf0d46fd37b66c46b0686304071a8f6deadf630c59f86216c7f996}» under the supervision of the great bass player from Cameroon Francis Mbappe and Michael Jackson’s percussionist Bashiri Johnson (including the popular title and musical video “Moment in The Sun”, featuring US hip hop star Freedom Williams). That same year she performed before the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York at the Official Launch of the International Decade for People of African Descent. Since then she has toured extensively in Europe and African countries. In July 2017, she represented Cameroon in the” Chanson” category at the 8th Francophony Games in Ivory Coast. She was officially selected for the 10th edition of MASA (Marché des Arts du Spectacle Africain), World’s greatest market for African Performing Arts and is included in the official selection of 5 major Festival and Markets in various international cities. Lornoar’s work builds on the legacy of African oral heritage. Her music is made of various rhythms: from bikutsi to bossa nova, through makossa, batanga, ekank, ekomot, mbalax and reggae, even including highlife and pop. From her cabaret years she has retained a strong stage presence and the ability to adapt to any kind of musicians and audiences, which helped her enjoy great success in Europe and the USA.

Michel Mbarga is an accomplished guitarist born and raised in Cameroon. Since the age of 6 he began his musical journey to master the electro-acoustic guitars and the balafon. He has participated in more than 200 national and international concerts in solo or accompanying the greatest musicians in Africa such as Patou Bass, Ondoa Akono, Alima Pelagie, Guy Mwogang, Mbale Mbale, Richard Amongou, Tsimi Toro, Cécile Éke and Ktino. He has been collaborating with LORNOAR for over 15 years.

Bobby Badjang is a gifted drummer born and raised in Cameroon. Since the age of 14, he has been playing with passion and confidence both drums and minor percussions, bongo, cajon, and the African tam tam. Throughout the years he has accompanied national and international artists such as André Manga, Olivier Chewa, Hervé Lobongo, Sanzy Vianny, Nkodo Sitony, Da’ak Janvier, Isnebo, Sam Fan Thomas, Govinal, and Esso Essomba. He has been collaborating with LORNOAR for 10 years.

Pavel Urkiza began playing the guitar and composing in his late teens, creating and disbanding a number of groups until he struck the perfect chord creating the duo “Gema y Pavel” with the Cuban singer, Gema Corredera. Constrained by the limitations of the Cuban music industry, they left the island to pursue their musical career in Europe. After twenty years in Spain, touring throughout Europe and in 2015 he moved to the United States. Urkiza is an internationally-know Cuban musician, composer, producer, and arranger. He is an artist of prolific creativity and deep connection to world musical cultures. His respect and understanding of Cuba’s rich musicological ancestry, in combination with 22 years of musical experience in the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Island have resulted in his truly unique style that offers a vast spectrum of rhythms, harmonies, melodies and lyrics. A mix of Afro, Cuban, and Ibero-American flavors are evident in his guitar playing and vocals. The result is a Caribbean-Mediterranean way of playing with a singular Cuban swing.

Randy Valdes has developed his career in different aspects of filmmaking including as an editor, writer, cinematographer and director with an early emphasis on documentary filmmaking and video art. His work has premiered at The Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and SXSW FilmFest, participated in Hot Docs – Film and Music Series, ScreenDance Miami Festival, and won best documentary in XicanIndie Film Fest. Most recently, his short film was acquired by HBO for national distribution. Although a film Director first, Randy has developed a multi-disciplinary career. He uses photography to show others how he sees the world. He also works with collages, sometimes animated, which often focus on spiritual elements through a psychoanalytic approach.

Carlos Miguel Caballero is an actor and theater director with an extensive history in international theater, film, television, and multimedia performance. Caballero studied Art History at the University of Havana, and graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts of Havana (ISA) with a degree in Theater and Acting. Caballero has worked as an actor in theater since 1985, most notably as a company member with Teatro El Público and La Ventana in Cuba. With these companies, he performed in over 20 plays including works by Shakespeare, Garcia Lorca, Samuel Becket, and Cocteau, among others, touring his work to the leading festivals in Spain and Latin America. Caballero has been based in Miami since 2000, where he received the Best New Actor award from the Miami New Times and the Nuevo Herald for his work with Grupo de Teatro La Mateodora in the play “Cuentas Pendientes,” and a Spanish-language adaption of “A Streetcar Named Desire” with Teatro Miami. He has also worked with Gold Coast Theater in more than 80 performances dedicated to teaching children about environmental issues. In 2001, Caballero wrote and directed a children’s play titled “The Witch of the Year” which was presented through the Miami-Dade Public Library System and in public schools across Miami. In 2002, Caballero directed the widely acclaimed play “Sueño Americano” by José Eduardo Pardo, which received a Best New Work award from the Miami Herald. He directed a performance work by Elizabeth Doud called “Sipping Fury from a Teacup” in 2011, commissioned by FUNDarte’s Miami On Stage series. In collaboration with Doud, he also developed, premiered and toured “If you’re going to pull a knife, USAlo” an experimental bilingual work based on texts by Becket, and commissioned by Miami Light Project and FUNDarte. This work was directed by Teatro El Público’s Carlos Díaz as part of an international collaboration involving artists in both the US and Cuba. Caballero also has extensive experience in film and television, having worked in Italy, Spain, Brazil, Panama, Peru, and Mexico. In 2012 he appeared as a protagonist in the film “Verde Verde” by Enrique Pineda Barnet, receiving the best actor awards at two international film festivals. In his two most recent creations, “Writing in sand” and “Between two waters” he has developed multidisciplinary work on the theme of women artists as the central axis of these works.

Sharing Grandmother is possible thanks to the generous support of The Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge 2020, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs – International Cultural Partnership Program, City of Miami Beach – Cultural Affairs Program – Cultural Arts Council, the Division of Arts and Culture Florida Department of State, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

FUNDarte is a multidisciplinary non-profit organization dedicated to producing, presenting, and promoting music, theater, dance, film and visual arts that speak to Miami’s diverse cultures with an emphasis on Hispanic arts and culture. FUNDarte particularly works to nurture emerging artists and those with little or no exposure to South Florida audiences; facilitate intercultural and international exchanges; and provide local audiences and artists with educational opportunities that expand their creative, critical and social perspectives.