Unmapping the Caribbean

hand with map drawn on it

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Unmapping the Caribbean

What would a map of sanctuary look like? As artists and educators we, Tao Leigh Goffe and Alicia Grullón, began with this question in the contemporary moment of migration crisis as part of New York University’s Sanctuary Coalition. Together we are embarking on a digital artistic collaboration that anchors sanctuary as deeply rooted in the Caribbean as the crucible of the Americas. How can one map the intimacies of four continents, to evoke Lisa Lowe’s reconstellation of the historiography of the Americas, with the Caribbean plantation as focal point? Framed by fugitivity we examine the potential and limitations of mapping African and indigenous presences across the archipelago. This postcard is a love letter of sorts, printed and posted from the diaspora, situating New York as a Caribbean city. Here we are engaged in a practice of unmapping through the body, forming a counter-map of sanctuary through memory and music.