What do we take when forced from our homes, or when leaving our home country? It\u2019s a question, practical yet conceptual, and explored in the latest collaboration between the Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) and Barry University\u2019s Institute for Immigration Studies. \u201cThe Container Project,\u201d which opened in November and runs through April 17, 2026, at the Monsignor William Barry Library, asks its 19 participating artists, \u201cWhat\u2019s in Your Container?\u201d<\/p>\n
Answers range from memories and adornments of the body (the first \u201ccontainer\u201d) and commentary about migration to re-conceived versions of long-gone objects. Artists represent the Caribbean diaspora, immigrants from other countries and U.S. natives. Many are based in South Florida.<\/p>\n
The show has a special resonance as immigration is front-and-center in the American experience \u2013 both for those facing deportation and within the larger community. Many of the artists channeled it into their works.<\/p>\n
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Nigerian-born Amarachi Odimba has cut, stitched and altered the ubiquitous blue, red and black plaid carryall often used by migrants into a wrapping for her painted portraits.<\/p>\n
(Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/p>\n
In the series titled \u201cEnfold,\u201d Nigerian-born Amarachi Odimba has cut, stitched and altered the ubiquitous blue, red and black plaid carryall often used by migrants into a wrapping for her painted portraits. Popularly known as the \u201cGhana Must Go,\u201d bag, they are deconstructed by Odimba as a vehicle to \u201cexplore the cultural identity and the diasporic experience, intertwining personal narratives with collective memory,\u201d she writes in a statement about the work. The folded, sewn and warped materials \u201ccreate a tension where figures seem to merge and undulate, mirroring the contours of the fabric,\u201d she continues. It is a metaphor, she says, for the diasporic experience: \u201cAn individual navigating precarious realities while also existing as a distinct entity shaped by displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cDispenser\u201d by Michael Elliott. The artist has repurposed the function of the gumball machine.<\/p>\n
(Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/p>\n
Others examine the fate of those who already made the journey. Michael Elliott\u2019s painting \u201cDispenser\u201d depicts an old-time gumball machine filled not with treats, but with the round, hopeful heads of immigrants. The machine, Elliott writes that the work references and comments on a system \u201cthat has us contained but at any moment we are all dispensable ready to be chewed up and spat out as the imperial powers see fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Amarachi Odimba stands in front of one of the pieces from her \u201cEnfold\u201d installation, which combines portraits with an iconic travel accessory.<\/p>\n
(Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/p>\n
The installation \u201cTales of Our Matriarch,\u201d by Shayla Marshall includes evocative oversized black-and-white photos of Black women, \u201chonoring the legacy of our grandmothers, women of promise whose sacrifices shaped the way we exist today,\u201d according to the artist. The installation includes a cozy arm chair and a copy of \u201cTheir Eyes Were Watching God,\u201d the seminal Zora Neale Hurston novel. One can\u2019t help consider the relationship of the portraits to those who came before us and witnessed life in their own time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Container Project\u201d is curated by Rosie Gordon-Wallace, the founder of DVCAI and known for showcasing and supporting Caribbean diaspora art, and Breeana Thorne, a Los Angeles-based independent curator whose practice weaves together art, community engagement, wellness, ecology and heritage. For both the show speaks to personal issues.<\/p>\n
Gordon-Wallace, a pillar of the Miami art community, has fond memories of U.S.-based aunts and uncles sending barrels of \u201cgoodies\u201d to the family in Jamaica. \u201cI held those memories all my life,\u201d she says, and asks, \u201cHow are people managing all these emotions, all the things that happen to us?\u201d Those recollections, and the current upheavals helped coalesce her thinking about the project, as did discussions with Thorne.<\/p>\n
Thorne and Gordon Wallace met at The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, N.C., years ago. They kept in touch, particularly after the January 2025 Los Angeles fires when Thorne was forced to evacuate. \u201cI had to pack my things and leave,\u201d says Thorne. Among items grabbed: books read and annotated by her much-loved grandmother. Thorne\u2019s home was saved but an aunt and uncle weren\u2019t so lucky. Still, she says, the crisis was followed by \u201ca lot of beauty, seeing people and the community try to collect resources and help people they don\u2019t even know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That included working to salvage and preserve photos and films, while reflecting on how chosen physical objects are accompanied by memories, culture and knowledge \u2013 and how those might manifest in a new home. \u201cWith immigration, you are leaving a physical space for the betterment of yourself and your future lineage,\u201d says Thorne. \u201cYou yourself become the container.\u201d Cultural images and references \u201cbecome a blueprint you transfer to your offspring and family.\u201d One example often cited, she says: cooking your favorite foods from your country of origin.<\/p>\n
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Shayla Marshall\u2019s \u201cGaia, Painter of Black British and Jamaican Descent,\u201d pays homage to those who came before.<\/p>\n
(Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/p>\n
Among Thorne\u2019s antecedents are immigrants from Mexico and Barbados. Her grandmother, in particular, carried on the traditions of her heritage, and was the moving force behind creating and publishing a book of family recipes.<\/p>\n
She wants visitors to investigate their own idea of container. \u201cIt is very dynamic and engaging,\u201d she says of \u201cThe Container Project.\u201d People should leave the show invigorated, and understanding \u201cwhat the container can be in your own body \u2013 a moment of transcendence,\u201d and the many ways in which narratives of transition can be expressed.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHollow (Oven)\u201d Patricia Cooke\u2019s fabric oven, creates a feeling of warmth amidst the insubstantial.<\/p>\n
(Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/p>\n
\u201cHollow (oven),\u201d a pink fabric stove and cooking implements by local artist Patricia Cooke, exemplifies memory transformed. \u201cThe kitchen is the heart of any home,\u201d she writes. This is where we gather, nourish our bodies and those of our loved ones\u2026.\u201dHollow (oven)\u201d is a container for possibilities, both for what is for dinner, and what the sustenance provided will allow us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
WHAT: The Container Project<\/p>\n
WHERE: DVCAI at Barry University, Monsignor William Barry Library, 11300 NE 2nd Ave., Miami<\/p>\n
WHEN: Through Friday, April 17, 2026. Visit during regularly scheduled library hours.<\/p>\n
COST: Free.<\/p>\n
INFO: (786) 306-0191 and disaporavibe.org<\/a><\/p>\n ArtburstMiami.com<\/a> is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What do we take when forced from our homes, or when leaving our home country? It\u2019s a question,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[52968,52971,52978,52958,52975,52970,52966,52960,52972,52977,52976,52956,52957,52974,52967,225,227,226,52963,52959,52955,52969,52962,52965,52961,52973,52954,52964],"class_list":["post-101051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-amarachi-odimba-artist","tag-art-addressing-deportation-and-displacement","tag-arts-and-immigration-news","tag-barry-university-art-exhibit","tag-barry-university-monsignor-william-barry-library","tag-black-diaspora-contemporary-art","tag-breeana-thorne-curator","tag-caribbean-diaspora-artists","tag-community-based-art-exhibitions-miami","tag-contemporary-installation-art-miami","tag-cultural-memory-and-migration","tag-diaspora-vibe-cultural-arts-incubator","tag-dvcai-exhibition-miami","tag-free-art-exhibitions-miami","tag-ghana-must-go-bag-artwork","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-immigrant-experience-art-show","tag-immigration-and-diaspora-art","tag-immigration-art-exhibition","tag-michael-elliott-immigration-art","tag-migration-and-identity-in-art","tag-rosie-gordon-wallace-curator","tag-south-florida-contemporary-art","tag-south-florida-museum-and-library-exhibits","tag-the-container-project","tag-whats-in-your-container-art-exhibit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}