J'ouvert Genesis Immersive Experience Opens at Lefferts Historic House

Explore the rich history of J'ouvert in Trinidad and Tobago and its important role in Brooklyn with the J'ouvert Genesis Immersive Experience at the newly reopened Lefferts Historic House. Guests can learn more about this cultural tradition with the Prospect Park Alliance, City Lore and the JouvayFest Collective.

J'ouvert translates to “opening of the day" or "I open” in French and marks the beginning of the official two days of Carnival before Ash Wednesday in the Francophone Atlantic. The family-friendly exhibit is open now and runs through Oct. 29.

Visitors will be immersed in a curated experience through various artwork. This will include life-sized traditional J'ouvert character costumes and signature percussive instruments.

The exhibit also features large-format photography of J'ouvert by artist Jason C. Audain, and digital media works produced by filmmakers Mario T. Lathan and DeAndre Vidale. Workshops and discussions on the food, dance and music of the classic Trinidad and Tobago style of J'ouvert will accompany the exhibit.

Formerly enslaved Africans in predominantly French-speaking Caribbean colonies created J'ouvert as part of their battles with the authorities to participate in the pre-Lenten festivities of the ruling class.

The tradition was made official in Trinidad and Tobago in 1881 when communities fought for their freedom during the famous Canboulay/Kambule’ (burnt-cane in French) riots when they burnt valuable sugarcane fields to protest British attempts to suppress their way of life.

This struggle secured the J'ouvert celebration from colonial interference. J'ouvert has flourished into a living tradition and symbol of the power of resistance in the Caribbean, Brooklyn and beyond.

J'ouvert Genesis Immersive Experience is part of ReImagine Lefferts, the Prospect Park Alliance initiative to re-envision the mission and programming at Lefferts Historic House to focus its interpretation and programming on exploring the lives, resistance and resilience of the Indigenous people of Lenapehoking, whose unceded ancestral lands the park and house rests upon, and the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family.